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Magmaster12 January 13, 2012 01:12:02 PM

Magmaster12 Re watches the Pokemon Anime
 
My current goal is to try to re watch every single episode of the pokemon anime starting with episode 1 where I will post my review and thoughts of every single one including the specials and movies.

Here's hoping I get passed 200 episodes!

Pokemon Episode Reviews Indigo League    
EP001 Pokemon - I Choose You : Pretty great start for the anime, I really like how the show starts off by showing the actual game intro then switching it to the anime I think it's pretty over looked at awesome it is. I hated everything about Gary in the early including his voice what a jerk. The stuff with Ash trying to catch a pokemon is pretty boring, I guess this kind of proves he can't hold an episode by himself.

Overall this is a great introduction to the pokemon we see our characters wants, and a fantastic introduction to how the pokemon world works without talking down to it's audience. It's a memorable episode in the end.

4/5

EP002 Pokemon Emergency : Not much to be said about this episode aside from the fact it's strange seeing this since it's the only episode Team Rocket is supposed to be taken serously. Is it just me though but there voice actors are pretty bad in this episode? Heh Ash confused Ho-Oh for an Articuno. I wonder why Arcanine is on the tablet with the legendary birds. Oak thinks Ash didn't see Articuno, oh the irony. Why isn't Team Rocket taken this seriously by the authority in other episodes? They seem to have the entire town under deep watch but they have gotten off riding there balloon in major towns other times. And thus begins Team Rockets 600 episode long journey to catch Pikachu. Pretty fun episode though

4/5

EP003 Ash Catches A Pokemon: Well Misty is now a main member of the group, it's either love or Stockholm Syndrome you be the judge. The moment in this episode between Caterpe and Pikachu is weird but it's still pretty cut despite not making total sense. I find it funny how Meowth sees himself as the leaser.

This episode was pretty boring, it seemed to go back and forth between
1.Caterpe trying to befriend Misty
2.Misty freaking out
3.Caterpe gets depressed
This is were we also see Team Rocket again, personally I got sick of them fast because they basicly did the same thing every episode it's just well boring.

3/5

EP004 Challenge of the Samurai - So this 10 year old kid is just running around threatening kids with a samurai sword, no wonder they don't let actual 10 year olds live on there own. Team Rocket was pretty funny in this episode, I like how they're using a paper tank to avoid the Beedrill and are basically the cause of everything bad in this episode unintentionally. Metapod vs Metapod was also very funny.

4/5

EP005 ******** in Pewter City - This is the episode where we finally get introduced to Brock and the episode is okay. Something that annoys me a lot about the early episodes is the fact Ash basically doesn't deserve any of his gym badges and here it is no exception. I do like some of the moments with Brock's Dad which is pretty funny along with Brock's siblings trying to defend there brother dispute being pretty stupid. Also, Ash is willing to accept help from this total creeper he barely knows who later turns out to be Brocks dad but refuses Misty's help our hero ladies and gentlemen.

4/5

EP006 Clefairy and the Moon Stone - Another filler another weird character of the day and typical Team Rocket Attack. I guess the stuff with the Clefairy was pretty cool though.

2/4

EP007 Waterflowers of Cerulean City - Wow just one episode gap between a gym you never see that today. I find strange how Brock just leaves in the middle of this episode with no real explanation. Still a pretty fun episode especially a rare battle between Misty and Ash.

4/5

EP008 Path to the Pokemon League - I remember this as being one first times I actually saw pokemon so it should be interesting to watch this. I like this episode kind of explores the idea of "animal abuse" but it spent way to much time focusing on Akira and Ash arguing with little resolution. So it's pretty boring.

3/5

EP009 School of Hard Knocks - This episode was kind of interesting because it had the anime try to create new ideas for how the world works like the pokemon school which makes perfect sense. Something I noticed though is the fact that the staff the kid was going over for level 1 seemed really easy, so I wonder what the final grade teaches, the math behind IV's and Rate of shiny pokemon. I don't get the moral at the end though, computer battles are not the real thing so it's better to learn real tactics when fighting. So does this mean that instead of playing the games were you use made up tactics you should always do poorly made tactics? Typical writers.

4/5

EP010 Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village - Another starter capture another pokemon who starts off hating Ash but then ends up being captured pretty basic episode if you ask me.

3/5

EP011 Charmander the Stray Pokemon - Now this episode I like, it has some good moments with Ash trying to save Charmander and Brock actually being three dimensional by being so concerned about Charmander and eventually yelling at his trainer.

4/5

EP012 Here comes the Squirtle Squad - I find it funny how 4Kids made it so dramatic over Misty getting her hair dyed purple, in the original they were going to out right kill her. So with all the tactics and Squirtle who is a pretty interesting pokemon this makes up a pretty good episode. My only issue would be the fact the ending was way to sudden with the Squirtle Squad being good just like that.

4/5

EP013 Mystery at the Lighthouse - While this episode does use an expect of the game it doesn't use to much with it and this episode is pretty forgettable and drawn out. I found it pretty funny how Bill got stuck in the Kobutops costume, disadvantage of being a furry people! The episode also seems to have a lot of build up to Dragonite but all we see of it is a silhouette while it barely does anything!

1/5

EP014 Electric Shock ******** - Here's something I really hate about the anime, pokemon refusing to evolve. Yes I get it they don't want it to become for x reason but it's still pretty stupid and doesn't cover the real fact that it doesn't want to evolve so it can stay cute and sell as many toys and products as possible. Enjoy being mained to death for refusing to evolve Pikachu. For all it's worth though the battle between Pikachu and Raichu is still one of the better battles in all of Kanto though.
Also this is the first time Team Rocket uses a disguise and Misty immediately recognizes them oh the irony.

3/5

EP015 Battle aboard St.Annie - This is the episode of the anime where we are are introduced to Giovanni who isn't a real threat until 15 years later only to have his disappearance unexplained. The team up between all the pokemon taking down all the pokemon was pretty cool despite 50% of it being recycled animation.

4/5

EP016 Pokemon Shipwreck - At the beginning of the episode it's established that Officer Jenny thinks the group is dead, wouldn't it be interesting if they actually, oh I don't know establish it further before making that seen entirely pointless oh well. This episode is pretty fun though having a lot of high tension with the group using there own pokemon was pretty cool. Despite this episode being pretty drawn it's pretty cool.

4/5

EP017 Island of Giant Pokemon - Well this episode is well, different. It's weird seeing the pokemon voices subtitled especially how Charmander and Pikachu seem to be the only ones who care for Ash just you wait Charmander.Something that really bothers me is that Giovanni is the owner of this amusement park with giant pokemon you think he might use this to try well take over the world but nope Giovanni is only interested in expanding tourism.

4/5

EP018 Beauty and the Beach - Oh Boy time for a tramautizingly bad episode. I can understand why 4kids skipped this episode fanservice (especially for James) serves no point in this show. Along with the creepy character of the day who even flirted with Misty in the original version overall it's an outright mess. Also are Gary's fangirls aware he's 10 years old?

1/5

EP019 Tentacool and Tentacruel - Darn time for our "environmental episode". Pretty basic episode but seeing an entire city getting destroyed was pretty cool with all the guns and pokemon attacks really makes up for the sickening last episode.

3/5

EP020 Ghost of Maiden's Peek - Another episode that kind unfitting for this series. I'm not saying it's all bad though we get to see Brock and on a rare a cation James falling in love with a woman. Something that really annoyed was the climax with Gastly and how pretty seems to control all reality creating "animals" a mongoose then he just disappears without any real conclusion, yes it's but it'll be back soon. What exaclty was Gastly's goal in the first place?

3/5

EP021 Bye Bye Butterfree - This episode is pretty boring aside from the emotional goodbye we get from Ash in the end, pretty basic start for Ash starting to continually release pokemon in the distant future.

3/5

EP022 Abra and Psychic Pokemon - Something that's usually ignored by future episodes of pokemon is the gym leaders are incredibly boring with Sabrina it was nice they actually tried to something so dark. In fact aside from main characters Sabrina might be the most well developed gym leader. I do however have a problem with how over powered psychic types are in this episode but it's not going to be a big problem until the following episode.

4/5

EP023 The Tower of Terror - An episode that's actually creative!? This is another kind of episode the anime would never have today and it's pretty well weird. Overall it's pretty boring but also fun.

3/5

EP024 Kadabra vs Haunter - Man this was a weird arc and it gets even weirder here. I think the reason why it ended this way was because the writers realized they made the psychic types to over powered and knew there was no way Ash could say they just gave up. Still this arc was pretty ground breaking as it left Ash with a goal that expanded through multiple episodes, something that will become a high point of the series.

3/5

EP025 Primeape goes bananas - This episode has a lot going for it with Ash going insane trying to get his hat back but it got old fast.

3/5

EP026 Pokemon Scent-sation - This episodes has good moments and bad moments while it's incredibly annoying to see Erika just hand her badge over to Ash without a real battle considering all the filler that's upcoming but it's also not typical for to see Ash teaming up with Team Rocket and dressing up as a girl .

2/5

EP027 Hypno's Naptime - Man this episode is really stupid. The episode starts off with a lady confusing her son telling them he's been missing for three days! I guess that's what happens when your entire police force is inbred. Or the fact that no one is noticing this giant mansion on top of a building. Or the fact that Magikarp girl must have some how flopped over to the elavator and pressed the button. This episode is stupid but it's still a pretty fun watch.

4/5

EP028 Pokemon Fashion Flash - Basic episode but the stuff with Team Rocket obsessing over fashion and Misty's makeover it was pretty funny.

3/5

EP029 The Punchy Pokemon - This was a pretty bad episode, the characters of the day were really boring and the battle weren't a lot better. The only redeeming thing about this episode is Team Rocket and they're usually the only redeeming thing of most of these episodes. This is also the episode were we say goodbye to Primeape after appearing in 1 episode a lot people complain about the lack of screen time of the pokemon today but this is an example of how not to handle one of Ash's captures.

2/5

EP030 Sparks fly for the Magnemite - Officer Jenny is having these three kids she barely knows into the Power Plant to put the power on, heaven forbid you *get your uniform dirty Jenny. Other then pretty regular episode consisting of the group and Team Rocket just wondering around not that bad.

3/5

EP031 Dig those Diglett - Another episode that was made with littlee ideas in mind. Also Team Rocket's pokemon evolving in this episode but it's only done to expand the episode.

1/5

EP032 Ninja Poke******** - Why does 4Kids feel they need to add "poke" to every title seems really unnecessary. Compared to the last episode this episode is really well paced. Cramming some great battle between Ash and Koga and his sister, the funny moments with Ash and friends going through the gym, Psyduck failed moments and Team Rocket. Considering the fact Ash actually desrved this badge it's easily one of the better gym battles and pretty underrated.

4/5

EP033 The Flame Pokemon -Thon - Well Pokemon Racing is a pretty good idea for an episode but other then that his episode is pretty basic.
What's weird is the fact that in Japan this is the highest rated episode of Pokemon with 18.3% weird.
Also 4Kids never try to have your VA's do western accents again.

2/5

EP034 The Kangiskan Kid - My god this is a weird episode and a little people seem to hate it or love it because it's a display of everything the anime isn't now. Personally though I love it's really insane and stupid but hilarious. I totally recommend this episode to anyone who hasn't seen the original series and is curious to see the anime of yesturyear.

4/5

EP035 Legend of Dratini - Man I personally think it's a pretty big shame 4Kids had skipped this episode is favor of not airing it. The scenes with Team Rocket torturing the Warden are really funny along with how Ash keeps trying to catch other pokemon but ends up capturing a Tauros.

4/5

EP036 The Bridge Bike Gang - Are bridges normally built were the build the walkway first for bikers then for the actual drivers? Also yet again we see Nurse Joy sending the group off on job despite not knowing them at all, oh well Nintendo Logic! Considering the fact they don't really have anywhere to be, Ash doesn't even have his next gym battle planned there's really little point in them wanting to cross the bridge in the first place. This episode has some pretty good battles though so I'd recommend it.

3/5

EP037 Ditto's Mysterious Mansion - This episode is pretty awesome and memorable. We get a great establishment of everyone favorite egg making machine ditto and a memorable moment where the group does the Team Rocket motto.

4/5

EP038 Dennou Senshi Porygon - This episode took the idea of the pokemon storage system and made it awsome! Making the world inside a computer based wonder land with many seizure enduing lazers! Also Porygon is in it and he's also pretty awesome.

5/5

EP039 Pikachu's Goodbye - Man what a sad episode to bad we already know it's pretty clear Pikachu would never leave Ash. This episode is still pretty bad despite being pretty sad I guess it's no surprise this episode was put together in four months after the show got put on hiatus after the porygon incident.

1/5


EP040 Battling Eevee Brothers - I've always found this episode pretty ironic Mikey wants his Eevee to stay in its own form so it can be happy, you better not keep it to happy or it'll evolve when Gold and Silver. Overall this is another pretty boring episode but it's kind of interesting seeing them go over evolution stone evolution.

2/5


EP041 Wake up Snorlax - Well this was a good episode I guess the antics of them trying to wake up Snorlax were pretty funny.
4/5

EP042 ******** at Dark City - Man this episode is messed up. Personally I'm not sure if I should love this episode or hate it but I'll say skip it.

2/5

EP043 March of the Exeggutor Squad - Well this episode is just god awful. It's about a magician who sucks at his job, try's to use his pokemon brainwash Ash so he can brainwash more pokemon then there's a battle and the episodes ends. That's it. Probably one of the worst episodes of the entire franchise, it's not even fun it's just REALLY stupid.

1/5

EP044 Problem with Paras - Another terrible episode. At least last one was sort of entertaining this one is just really boring and starts the pattern of a typical filler today.
Character of the day has problem with there pokemon
There's a battle and it fails
Pikachu says its name
Team Rocket try to steal the weak pokemon and SURPRISE it's strong now we hope you enjoyed this recycled plot.

1/5


EP045 Song of Jigglypuff - Man I love this episode, back when Jigglypuff was funny and no one was sick of seeing it. Only problem is the stuff with the group trying to teach Jigglypuff to sing is pretty boring.

4/5

EP046 Attack of the Prehistoric Pokemon - Man this is another episode with a lot, between fossil digging, Team Rocket attack, fossil pokemon attack, Charmeleon evolving, the group trying to dig out Ash and Ash finding the first pokemon egg in the franchise this episodes action packed.

4/5

EP047 A Chansey Operation - Let me get this strait, in this world based around pokemon there isn't one pokemon center for miles so the group has to rely on a doctor to get an apple out of pikachu's throat yep, Also this episode has to much fanservice on Misty. Why is this wrong? SHE'S 10 FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!! It's bad enough they had to make it so blatantly obvious the doctor is attracted to her.
Also Brock rejects Dr.Proctor's offer to help him because he wants to become a pokemon breeder good luck Brock.

4/5

EP048 Holy Matrimony - I like these history episodes. It's really great for us to learn more about James and his history it's a shame we don't more on other characters *cough* Ash *cough. All in all great episode. In fact this episode isn't even about Ash and friends it's about Team Rocket as we have more focus put on them then Ash and friends with them "Blasting off" at the end of the episode instead of them. I freaking love how satanicly evil Jessebelle and Jame's parents for letting him get tortured. I wonder why Ash never thought of the idea of James being rich of actually getting rid of him.

4/5

EP049 So near yet so Farfetch'd - This is a pretty boring episode, a kid tries to steal pokemon only realize that the pokemon he was using to steal was strong all along. I don't get it why didn't he know it all along when he was stealing the pokemon or why he did in the first place so this episode is just pretty stupid.

2/5

EP050 Who keeps Togepi? - Well 50 episodes in it's now time for the show to jump the shark for the first time! A lot people pinpoint this as the moment in the series when Misty stop acting violent towards Ash and became more based around cuteness of pokemon. This episode is pretty poor, for an episode that provides such an important event it provides very little.

3/5

EP051 Bulbasaur's Mysterous Garden - I've already stated my dislike towards the idea of pokemon refusing to evolve. It's just poor excuse for the animators to save money while at same time trying to sell as many bulbasaur products as possible. Heaven forbid we get screen time of a different pokemon. This episode was still a breakthrough though as Bulbasaur was one of Ash's weakest pokemon before this episode and once he learned Solar Beam he become Ash's more powerful pokemon. I guess it's trying to deal with idea of how people need to grow up and Bulbasaur refuses to look intimidating. BULLS***The moral of this episode makes no sense, if you don't want to change you don't have the option to and you should stay who you are the same person forever. BAD MORAL

2/5

EP052 Princess vs Princess - Learning about Japanese holidays is neat. I also enjoyed seeing a rivalry Misty and Jessie while fleshing out there character history. The only problem is Jessie rarely uses Lickitung after this.

4/5

EP053 The Purr-fect Hero - This episode is pretty basic there's nothing really good about but nothing really bad either it's just average. However the bipolar teacher in this episode really cracks me up.

3/5

EP054 - This episode is interesting because I think it's nice to see Ash trying a new approach to becoming a good pokemon trainer by having Pikachu go through Glowlthe Police Training and at the same time wondering if it's the right thing to do to Pikachu. Pretty Good.

4/5

EP055 - Pokemon Paparazzi - This is the episode where we are introduced Todd Snapp the character from the N64 where you take pictures of pokemon and it's well pretty boring. Just a pretty poor excuse at the writers to eventually advertise a game. It's pretty funny to see Team Rocket recruit someone to capture Pikachu only for Todd to completely fail.

3/5

EP056 The Ultimate Test - I think the point of this episode might have been to show that Ash has barley developed as a trainer on his journey as he's pretty bad so in a way this episodes point is kind of pointless. Like the only thing that matters about being a pokemon is just being a nice person. sigh. Another thing that annoys me is that Jessie has point in this episode, a lot of the info on the test makes no sense at all considering the fact the answers really can be easily misconstrued. I may be wrong though as Ash is really good at battling the gym leader/teacher but that's it also the antics with Todd can be pretty funny sometimes. Also at the end Ash says he's fine with getting badges his own way forgetting the entire reason why he took the test in the first place, Because most of his badges were just handed over to him.

3/5

EP057 Breeding Center Secret - This episode was pretty cool as it had pretty high tension as Butch and Cassidy are more threatening villians. I think it's also nice for us to see Misty helping the group out at the end of the episode instead of Ash for once.

4/5

EP058 Riddle Me This - I'm not going to talk about the gym battle because it's not until the end of the episode. The antics with the riddles and Ash trying to find a hotel is kind of funny I guess they didn't have to many ideas for this episode. There's also the fact that Pikachu is used in this battle when he was used in all the other ones while. Let me prove my point with this chart frojm the gym battles so far up to this point.
Pikachu 6
Butterfree 1
Pidgeotto 2
Bulbasaur 1
Squirtle 1
Charizard 4

3/5

EP059 Volcano Panic - I think this episode is proof why the writers never bothered to put in actual gym battles, when they put one it they're very poorly done and rushed. We have each pokemon OHKO each other staying out for 1 minute it's almost sheer proof how bad the Kanto League can be. Watching the group's pokemon working together to prevent the volcano from erupting was neat but I don't get why the wait so long to help though. Also this episode makes up from the poor battle in the last episode by putting together an awesome battle between Magmar and Charizard. By the way this episode is why Magmar was one of my favorite pokemon.

4/5

EP060 Beach blank-out Blastiose - This episode has a case of WSIC or Why should I care? This case will be more common in some future episodes but here there's not to many events in this episode. Also Squirtle, compared to Bulbasaur seemed pretty excited to see his evolved forms then why didn't he ever bother to evolve?

2/5


EP061 Misty the Mermaid - The idea of an underwater pokemon musical is weird but I'm sure it's better then the actual pokemon musical. Misty centric episodes especially in the earlier episodes were always pretty good.

4/5

EP062 Clefairy Tale - This episode is weird but still has some awesome moments. The character of the day is a total nut job which I love. This episode also has the funniest Team Rocket scheme ever, I'm not going to reveal anything though you'll have to watch the episode yourself. But the best part is the pink on pink pokemon action between Clefairy and Jigglypuff.

5/5

EP063 Battle for Badge - The final gym is easily the worst. First of all there's Giovanni not getting used. WHY? This was the most climactic moment in the games why were the writers the against following the games even slightly. Second they're going to have this battle against Team Rocket who are currently 0-61? And third the battle is just poorly done. If there's something good I can say about this episode is the build up we get build up to Mewtwo strikes back and Gary actually *gasp* battle! However I'm annoyed they don't let Ash into the gym but they let in Gary's cheerleaders.

2/5

EP064 It's Mr.Mime Time - Well we just had a pokemon underwater musical now we have a pokemon circus. I liked how Ash managed to just leave Team Rocket like forget this I'm out of here. The best part would be the antics with Mr.Mime who's a great addition to the show.

4/5

EP065 Holiday Hi-Jynx - Another banned episode. The difference this time is that this one probably isn't a big miss. I do kind of wish there were more Christmas themed episodes of this show. How Team Rocket Stole Christmas theme works very well so it's quite a shame.

3/5

EP066 Snow way out - I liked this episode it really puts Ash in a corner and shows how determined he can sometimes be to help his friends in need. Also more references to Jessie being an orphan but this time it's funny watching her enjoy the snow.

4/5

EP067 ******** at the po-ke-corral - Now that the pokemon league is coming up its time for us to have a "breather" episode. This episode tries to establish stuff that has mostly been forgotten in the last few episodes but comes off as just pretty poorly paced. Also this episode is an example of how bad the rivalry between Ash and Gary was as we never get to see them battle they just spend the entire episode bragging to one another.

2/5

EP068 The Evolution Solution - And thus starts another string of filler er I mean Ash procrastinating from training for the pokemon league. This episode is pretty boring-stupid. Like it makes no sense at all they're not sure why Slowpoke evolves into Slowbro when a shellder clamps onto its tail say see it happen end of episode but a lot of stuff on this show doesn't make any sense so I'll just roll with it. The character of the day is over the top however its pretty stupid and not really funny at all.

2/5

EP069 The Pi-kahuna - This episode seemed to forget it was an episode of pokemon until we're half way through and it does the cliched thing.

1/5

EP070 Make Room for Gloom - The character of the day in this episode seems kind of stupid she keeps thinking she's a horrible trainer when her Gloom can't evolve even though it might have evolved from an Oddish and is upset about the nursery even though it's being run just fine. Also Prof Oak randomly comes in at the middle of this episode for barely any reason. NINTENDO LOGIC

2/5

EP071 Lights Camera Quaction - This episode is really fun. Despite this episode seeming like an ad for the movie (sort of) I enjoyed watching them make a movie with there pokemon.

4/5

EP072 Go West Young Meowth - This episode gives a captivating plot by showing us meowth's backstory.

4/5

EP073 To mast the Onixexpected - This is the first episode to introduce an E4 member despite the fact the role of the E4 won't be explained until about 10 years after this episode aired.
And you know what as an E4 member compared to them in future episodes he REALLY sucks. Oh well at least we got some slap stick with Misty.

4/5

EP074 The Ancient Puzzle of Pokemopolis - You know I don't really understand why this episode of the original series seems to have been largely forgotten. After all I think the fight between a giant Gengar and Alakazam is not really forgettable oh well. I guess when I think about it is kind of boring though.

2/5

EP075 Bad to the Bone - Pretty basic episode I guess it had a pretty memorable character of the day.
3/5

EP076 All Fired Up - Even for pokemon terms this episode is really stupid in common sense. Team Rocket wants to steal Moltres' flame. Why? So this episode can have a problem to keep the plot going, episode is just another annoying filler. This episode is also pretty poorly paced after the part with the Moltres flame is concluded it feels weird. But I do like how after Ash's confrontation with Gary he does seems to have some doubt in himself. There's also the fact that Team Rocket tries to steal the flame in a big stadium filled with many highly experienced pokemon trainers doing nothing. This episode defiantly should have spent a lot more time developing Ash's character rather then spending so much time obsessing over the flame.

3/5

EP077 Round one begin - Ah the Indigo League before it all went wrong. This is also one first few episodes to actually be dedicated to a battle and it's actually also pretty good as it didn't feel really rushed even though Kingler was used this entire episode. It's also nice to see Ash actually do a sweep and not look totally weak.

4/5

EP078 Fire and Ice - Well this is where it all went wrong. First the episode spent way to much time on Ash trying to heal his pokemon which went no where because we get no mention of after a pointless attack from Team Rocket. Also the battle between Ash and Pete is way to rushed, this battle was only won because Mist and Brock were present and last episode left me with high expectations what a shame.

3/5

EP079 Fourth Round Rumble - Yes an episode actually fully dedicated to battle and it's pretty good despite Muk being underused.

4/5

EP080 Friend in Deed - I hate Ritchie, the fact that he's a mature version of Ash leaves Ritchie as a robotic clone. Also in this episode Ash is unable to tell which pokeballs are his but I don't understand why this is an issue now. Also the method they're using to make Ritchie look like a better character is the same way they used for Gary bravo writers.

2/5

EP081 Friend or Foe alike - First of Team Rocket I hate when they use them as an obstacle it is just lazy writing because they're an obstacle in every episode why does it have to be convenient to the plot this time it's to cliche. This battle that also had so much built up is TERRIBLE. First Pidgeotto barely did anything how is it exuasted? Also why does Ash have Charizard when he knows it won't obey him this was the last battle of the Indigo League shame on you writers shame on you.

2/5

EP082 Friends to the end - You know with every episode knowing that they could have made Ash's battle with Ritchie a lot more climactic. Especially since this episode is pretty pointless and could have been shoved into the second half of the last episode if it wasn't for Team Rocket being completely unneeded in the last episode.

2/5


Pokemon the first Movie    

I'm not to sure if I can say how I really reel about this film aside from blaming everything that wrong with it on 4Kids but I think I can try.

I think my biggest complaint would be mewtwo's motive, he wants to take over the world for no reason when in the original he was mad that he wasn't created by god.
Also this movie is hypocritical with it's moral about fighting being wrong since they go back to doing it at the end of the movie anyways.

Don't watch this movie 4kids should have never been created!
2/5
Watch the original version subbed it shouldn't be to hard to find.
4/5

Character Analysis    

Ash - Despite being our main hero of the show Ash is probably the most
boring and dull character on the show. Now don't get me wrong I don't dislike the character but he could be a lot better. After in the first episode we did we get a good look at his personality shown as being determined enough to try and get his but at the same time caring for other like Pikachu in the climax of the final episode. Other then that there's not much to him and unlike the other characters we won't get a real backstory out him for quite a while. I guess it was established that he also became a better battler as the series went on using clever tactics with offence over defense getting put to good work during the pokemon league.

Pikachu - Well not much can be said about Pikachu in comparison to Ash's other pokemon because his main role of the show was to be "cute" but I digress. Pikachu's relation with Ash did change as from the start he did really little to try and bond with Ash almost having a hatred of humans, shocking every person in the first episode especially Ash. Pikachu eventually does come to real terms and realizes that the right thing to do is help Ash. Even warming
up to more kinder Misty much quicker then he did with Ash. Pikachu was also very full of pride for refusing to evolve to get stronger in the name of Pikachu.
You could say the there final test was in Goodbye Pikachu were it decides to stay with Ash but because the episode was put together last minute I'm not sure if it had character development in mind. As the series progresses Pikachu will actually do less in series which is why I'm talking about him now. While he was largely overused in this season just wait until Johto and considering this is the only season where he does a lot guess it is understandable for more screen time to get put on other pokemon in future, after all there's only so many times they reuse the same animation of Pikachu using thundarbolt.

Butterfree - Speaking of early captures I should probably talk about another strong pokemon of Ash's Butterfree. Looking back I kind of wish that he never really released him due to his many other releases in the future and Butterfree actually being a strong pokemon. Other then that he was pretty bland. While as a Caterpe he seemed focused on trying to befriend other people he seemed to also have a really strong desire to evolve. Problem is after that he has no personalty despite being pretty strong in battles against Misty and Team Rocket I really wish we could have seen him more.

Pidgeotto - Man this guy was underused. Not only that but despite being around for so long he did absolutely nothing! With screentime would often be taken away in favor of the more popular starters and was only used if flying was involved. This pokemon would actually start a trend of incredibly underused and ignored flying types.

Bulbasaur - Speaking of trending patterns Bulbasaur was the first of many grass starters Ash would catch. Along with that he was a lot more interesting being the "mature" battler on the team commonly sitting aside while Ash's other pokemon were playing. As Bulbasaur was depicted in his first episode it had shown he was very protective of other pokemon having a slight hatred of human for being abandoned quite a while ago. As for his battle skills he started off being pretty weak with a lot of battle losses. It's not until he refuses to evolve and learns Solar Beam when he finally becomes a powerhouse being Ash's only Kanto member to carry on for more then half of Johto. I've already stated how I feel about Bulbasaur evolving, it was a poorly done unexcused reason for the animators to save money on new animation.

Squirtle - Speaking of pokemon refusing to evolve it's time for me to talk about Squirtle. Squirtle was probably Ash's only "fun" pokemon besides Pikachu and I mean that after Charmander evolved. He was actually quite a mischievous pokemon, going around playing pranks on trainers only to eventually redeem himself to Ash in his capture episode. Beachblankout Blastoise was the best time for Squirtle to shine trying to help out his evolved brotherin as soon as possible but at the same time being pretty fun about it. Despite easily being sweeped in his only gym battle he was a lot stronger of a battler in other episodes wiping out Team Rocket a lot better then Bulbasaur might have.

Charizard - Speaking of pokemon that would wipe out other pokemon it's time to talk about Charizard. Early Charmandar was depicted as a pretty fragile pokemon who was more loyal to Ash then some of his other pokemon getting thrown out in battle more often in favor or anyone else on Ash's team. Despite this even as Charmander he was still willing to attack any other people with his flamethrower. Then he evolved into an even bigger powerhouse Charizard. Once he evolved into Charizard he was still completely unloyal to Ash becoming lazy, refusing to battle unlesss his ego has at stake or if it was another fire pokemon or just becoming strong. Why? Well I guess one reason could that just wasn't a good trainer but I don't really understand it Ash still seems to care for Charizard and at this part in the series he was shown as a good trainer. Annoying aside especially how stupid it is that it leads to a very disappointing climax to the Indigo League we'll get to see a good glimpse of him finally obeying Ash again in future.


Gary - This character I seriously do not understand the point of. I think his role might been to either show how inexperienced Ash was as a trainer and at the same time making Ash look like a more better character by comparison. In the process though they make him come off as an obscure ****** who knows everything and should be ashamed for being better. The biggest problem was the fact we never really saw him battle Ash, in fact in every battle we saw him in he had gotten his but kicked. So this also makes seem even more of pointless character with a lot of wasted potential in fact it won't be for along time until the series would get a recurring rival correct.

Misty - If there was any character that was truly liked by everyone who watched the series though it would be Misty. Misty started out just following Ash out of anger of her destroying his bike in fact when she first meets Ash she even slaps him a couple times(this when censored in the dub process). I also want to start off to make this clear but they were never meant to be a couple instead the true reason why Misty followed Ash was because she had gradually just become dependent on him. So it's love or Stockholm syndrome you be the judge. Misty has also left being the girl of the group so of course she also had to be the feminist, nice girl of the group despite sometimes beating up members of her group despite the dub sometimes making her come off as a little self-centered. Despite this we also saw a selfish side to her in Princess vs Princess as her entire goal of winning the competition has so she could win a collection of dolls to show off to her sisters who would commonly be the selfish ones on there own.

Psyduck - If there was anytime in the series were Misty would get mad at something it would be about Psyduck. He inclusion on the team could be considered a good thing or a bad thing though because he basically would come out of his pokeball only she'd call out another pokemon causing her to get mad instead of her using another kind of strategy with a different pokemon. However I don't think it's all bad though as he was her only pokemon that had personality and prevented Misty from being repetitive enough to call out the same pokemon again to use water gun.

Brock - Out of all of the traveling companions Ash has had Brock has probably been around the most only to do very little during his run on the show. Now don't get he wrong he actually does a lot in this series but in the future I suggest for you to lower your expectations. While Misty was more of a short term carer Brock was probably a long term one commonly worrying of when issues might arise in a situation. One main example would be when he got mad a Damian for letting his Charmander out in the rain to almost let it die Ash even suggested that Brock should be the one to keep it since he was the reason they had gone back for it. Other then that there's not much to his character aside from falling in love even his pokemon were even more uninteresting only being used at random moments for battle.

It's time I talk about the REAL main characters of the show Team Rocket. While the series would go on there antics would gradually get pretty old however in this series (up to the second to last episode) there material is still fresh. In fact he probably know more about Team Rocket then any other characters in the show.

James - James was probably the weirdest member of the group commonly dressing up in womans outfits for no set out reason and having incredibly bizarre obsessions. This might have been the reason why he did not won't to live with his parents as growing he was not well adjusted to proper he just wanted to do normal weird things and I think out of all the members of Team Rocket James got the best lines.

Jessies - Jessie was the self centered one of the group constantly trying to improve her image while still being depicted as a villain. She also had a poor childhood in comparison to Jame's as Jessie grew up going from orphanage to orphanage which is probably why she might be so self centered. Even at one point abandoning James and Meowth so she can participate in the pokemon league on her own.

Meowth - While Meowth was also pretty self-centered it still wasn't to the same extent as Jessie was since has probably the most loyal member to Team Rocket wanting to be Giovanni's pet instead of Persian. Meowth was also sort of the brains behind the group despite being pokemon and being easily distracted by a simple ball of yarn. Despite this Meowth still has a pretty soft side through displayed through his affection of the moon.


Full Review    


When people usually talk about the pokemon anime they usually associate it as the high point of this show. However, when you get down to is the the first season really as good as people say it is or are they just being completely biased through there nostalgia goggles? First I'm going to talk about the main problem with the show and almost every future season, there really is no main plot or focus on a goal. I mean yes we have thing like plots in mostly every episode but there's actually no real motivation or goal related to Ash being a pokemon master or Misty being a Water pokemon master. The problem with the first season though is the fact we have even less focus on Ash's gym battles, within the first 32 episode Ash has 6 of his badges with biggest gap being eight episodes only to have 28 more episodes until our next gym battle. Not to mention the fact there was absolutely no tension built up to these battles or even attention, for example the battles were very poorly done or just forgotten. However, it doesn't bother me too much though since this season was probably more based around the idea of Ash catching as many pokemon as possible, and I totally buy it lot more then just going around getting gym badges. As we go out through the show we see that Ash can barely hold up a battle on his own only for him to progress into the final 16 of the pokemon league. This was most likely the reason why most of Ash's gym battles were given out in petty, however I don't fully buy it. The problem with this is that the transition between Ash becoming a bad trainer to a good trainer might have been a little to quick since the gym battle were so overlooked especially since Ash only won against Blaine because of his Charizard didn't obey him and his Viridian City gym battle was SO BAD.
On the topic of that I should probably bring up how repatative the show is by telling how to play
THE POKEMON DRINKING GAME!!!!
Take A Drink When Watching this show when;
Brock Flirts With a girl
Team Rocket Tries to steal Pikachu
Animation Gets Reused (Double Sip if it's of Ash throwing a Pokeball)
Ash helps a complete stranger for no reason
Pikachu says it's name
Pointless POKEMON ARE CUTE moment!

I would give you a warning though because some people have passed out after 5 minutes into an episode. However I will give the show some credit for this as it's still fresh 82 episodes in but it will soon get old very fast. On the topic of that compared to other future season the animation here is at it's worst. With the same animation getting reused once every episode espicially for action moves. Fortunetly the poor animation is something that will change as the series goes on though. As for the voice acting well, it's not very consistent sometimes some of the actors are pretty good other times they're pretty bad. Veronica Taylor as Ash is pretty bad, especially in the earlier episode but even as her performances to get slightly better her voice she uses is still bad, if you close your eyes and just listen to his voice it does not sound like a 10 year old sounds like a woman in her thirties trying to be a woman. Rachel Lillis as Misty and Jessie are a better improvement with most there performances being pretty sometimes sometimes even in dramatic roles. One exception however would be Eric Stuart, who voices James and Brock and he can not act for the life of him. Everyone of his performances is said the same typical way no matter what the mood or tension. Eventually as series goes on and 4kids relies less on random voice actors (who are actually quite superb) and more of there own created talent (who are terrible) the voice acting gets far worse but between and season 4 the voice acting is just plain passable. So in the end how does it really fair up though? As series does put less focus on battling and slightly more on slap stick humor that would be quite reduced in the future it still was the classic sense of expedition and for that I give show credit and using plot devices that are not repetitive yet. I should also give the show credit for at least trying to put a plot together to the original Red and Blue which less face it had no plot in the first place. BUT there's still one final fact this season is REALLY stupid left with very little focus on logic at all.
Why does Officer always let kids do her own job?
Why do kids agree to help out such creeper character of the day?
Why is the show willing to have fan service for a 10 year old girl?
Why are the characters so stupid when it comes to Team Rocket?

This also leaves the fact that some aspects of the first season are boring and quite bland *couph* Ritchie *couph*. Like the Parras episode Dig those Diglett. The climax battle was bad with the writers giving us a terrible battle without a battle with Gary dispite so much build up. This left this season different but repetitive and stupid.

I give this season
2/5


5 To Watch
Pokemon I chose you
Battle Aboard Saint Anne
Electric Solider Porygon
Go West Young Meowth
Clefairy Tail

3 to Skip
Mystery at the Lighthouse
Dig those Diglett
March of the Executor Squad

Magmaster12 January 27, 2012 01:17:57 PM

Orange Islands Time!

Orange Islands Episode Review    

EP083 Pallet Party Panic - Another episode that COULD have been devoted to the pokemon league, oh well. Also I'd like to mention that Team Rocket has no gotten old so I will never give shows extra credit with them. Especially since this is the first episode where Ash stupidly falls for Team Rocket's disguises after years of being smart especially since they're so freaking obvious. However it is nice to see the group fight back by using something besides Pokemon. Between Charizard, Team Rocket and Pidgeotto this episode is pretty poorly passed and isn't helped by the fact how we get no expedition set up for the Orange Islands.

2/5

EP084 A Scare in the air - I should start off this by pointing out a huge plot hole, why did Oak send Ash off to the Orange Islands with no plans for how Ash will get there. Oak is a jerk. Also Giovanni owns blips!? Giovanni for once get your plans straight. Your an evil Team Leader not a Travel Agent darn it! I lied seeing Team Rocket antics while trying to trick the gang is pretty funny. However it got old fast.

3/5


EP085 Pokeball Peril - These girls in this episode I'm watching sound exactly like Max. Oddly the girls are more fitting and there voices are more raspy. We also say goodbye to Brock in this episode and it's not very well done. It doesn't matter to much since he ends up returning anyways. Once Team Rocket still pretty funny.

3/5

EP086 The Lost Lapras - Tracy's introduction is weird. Also Ash is basically like screw you Prof Oak I'm becoming a pokemon master. I guess it's also nice that we get some real build up to Tracy starting to travel with Ash. The stuff with Lapras was also pretty nice. Tracy is really ethentric in this episode which is weird since this characteristic is
forgotten in future episodes.

3/5

EP087 Fit To Be Tied - We have our first Orange League "battle" and it's pretty bad. It annoys me slightly how the anime writers are forced into creating random situations in favor of a battle haven we having fighting in an anime based around fighting. The target practice isn't even focused on Ash instead we see Psyduck randomly playing around with the GS Ball. To much time was spent on Team Rocket's typical schemes. This episode has so little focus on this being a Orange Crew episode it seems to almost forget its not a filler this episode almost felt like it was more based around establishing Ash and Lapras' relationship.

2/5

EP088 Pikachu Revolts - Man Ash gets really upset in this episode over Pikachu, it's nice to see them get so concerned over there pokemon showing how strong there bonds are. I think Cassidy and Butch can be pretty fun characters so this episode is pretty good. Team Rocket teaming up with the group is pretty meh though. This episode also has an important moment where Togepi uses it's first move, Metronome.

4/5

EP089 The Crystal Onix - Compared to other episodes most of the people on the island are jerks but if this was the real world it would actually make sense.
Although I don't get why Team Rocket agrees to work after braking the store merchandise, do they have such little faith in themselves they don't even want to bother? I also find it funny how Team Rocket ends up getting caught in there own traps saving us from another unneeded Team Rocket battle. Only for them to escape admiting even the writers don't even know while James has doughts he can win. Who ever wrote this episode feels the same way about Team Rocket that I do. This episode also has a pretty good expedition with the character of the day and I think the idea of a Crystal Onix was handled pretty well. My only problem is the fact is that the character just manages to understand everything by looking into Onix's eye instead of him just practicing or capturing it but whatever it's what should be expected from this episode. Once again nice change to see him not capture it.

4/5

EP090 In the Pink - This episodes start off with a pretty funny establishment to be foreshadowed, Togepi doesn't know any moves. Not that it'll matter though since this is the last time we see Togepi use Metronome. I feel should also give the writers credit for kind of accurately connecting animal isolation to pokemon isolation.

3/5

EP091 Shell Shock -I liked this episode despite how slightly stupid it was. First it's nice to see how Ash is consistently mad at someone for actually try to them which is smart. However, how did this guy now stealing the Kobutops will disturb the island he really just seems, well insane. The moral at the end of this episode also seems to kind of come out of nowhere with our characters changed just like that.

3/5

EP092 Stage Fight - The Raichu subplot in this episode is pretty good. Other then that this episode was pretty good. But I don't get why the smoke screen effects this one guys voice I mean why hasn't this happened before.

3/5

EP093 Bye Bye Psyduck - In this episode Misty thinks her Pysduck will evolve, What you Misty might get a pokemon to evolve so she'd would have an excuse to rant every time it comes out of it's pokeball. No wait it's an anime running gag it won't end unless the character leaves. Misty episodes are always pretty nice though it's pretty cool to see Misty fangirl all over water pokemon. The only problem with this episode is the fact that battle between Team Rocket lingered on.

3/5

EP094 Joy of Pokemon -This episode was pretty pointless. Basically proof that pokemon and humans can coexist which is shoved in and practically the entire point of this show! Really uneventful episode. With a mandatory Team Rocket appearance.

1/5

EP095 Navel Adventures - Eww the 30 something year old gym leader in this episode and Misty are attracted to each other. The Orange Island Gym "Bsttles" are pretty weak once again but at least this one had a lot more focus then the first "battle". However I think its a little stupid for all the objectives to be based around physical strength and not real pokemon battling and blah blah blah. It just real annoys me because battles are what we've come to expect out of this show and it's just pretty disappointing.

3/5

EP096 Snack Attack - Snorlax is probably my favorite of Ash's pokemon. This episode has some pretty fun shenanigans even though we've already had a Snorlax episode like this. However instead of them trying to wake up a Snorlax in this episode they're trying to put it asleep.

4/5

EP097 A Ship full of Shivers - This episode was pretty forgettable even though many think of t as being pretty memorable which I can understand since the stuff with Haunter and Gastly was kind of good. The part where Ash watches the Orange League battle seemed pretty pointless though.

2/5

EP098 Meowth Rules - Team Rocket centered episodes are pretty good. I found it surprisingly believable that Team Rocket went out of there way in this episode. Still a pretty basic but memorable episode.

3/5

EP099 Tracy Gets Bugged - Well this is another pretty basic episode but this one is still pretty good as it's focused on Tracy and not some one over used.

4/5

EP100 A Way Off Day Off - My god this has to be the worst episode out of the last 99! The episode is just plain awful! It's boring an uneventful there no point at all! And of course this episode has yet another pointless Team Rocket and Jigglypuff moment. It's like they copied and pasted random moments in other episodes and pasted them into this one it's so terrible.

0/5

EP101 Mandarin Island Mismatch - This episode stars Prima's breasts costarring Prima. This episode is a lot better then Bruno's episode as we see some real battles with rather then having her depicted as a looser. Man this episode is a step up for the last one.

4/5


EP102 Wherefore art though Pokemon - The team rocket scheme is stupid even for there standards and that's pretty low. This episode is still pretty good since goes over theme that's rarely used in the show, "romance".

3/5

EP103 Get along, little pokemon - This is a boring basic episode with Team Rocket and the gang and character of the day are left to save the day.

2/5

EP104 The Mystery Menace - The string of poorly done fillers continues. This episode is basically no exceptions. But a plot about a corrupt leader who willing to do whatever means to protect the citizens, doesn't that sound familiar. This episode also has the most insane conclusion so far.

2/5

EP105 Misty Meets Her Match - Another Orange Island battle with "gasp" an actual battle! To bad it's pretty poorly written. This episode was pretty good character development for Misty who get a lot this season which is great. Also Team Rocket is used minimally isn't great?

4/5

EP106 Bound for Trouble - Eh basic Meowth and Pikachu episode.

3/5

EP107 Charizard Chills - This episode is probably one of the best episodes of the Orange Islands. Since we get some character development and finally see what we've been waiting for, Charizard obeying Ash! It's pretty emotional episode with a good pay off.

4/5

EP108 Water Pokemon War -The first half of this episode was pretty good since it focused on Squirtle. But the second half SUCKED it was way to focused on Team Rocket who are not interesting when they're just sitting around.

3/5

EP109 Pokemon Food Fight - This is basically a copy of the other two Snorlax episodes but this time with a Team Rocket abuse. The character of the day was also pretty bad too.

2/5

EP110 Pokemon Double Trouble - Another episodes with to much focus on Team Rocket and this is the final gym battle of the Orange League darn it! Also the part about how Pikachu and Charizard having a rivalry didn't strike me as to believable since it was never established before. So this battle is pretty poorly done.

2/5

EP111 The Wacky Watcher - First of all why did the dub make the character of the day in this episode sound like Gracho Marx. I'm pretty sure there weren't to many 5-12 year olds watching black and white 1920's films. Man this dub is also pretty bad I mean there's so much bad random dialogue I feel like I'm watching the dub to digimon. However at least this episode leaves Team Rocket pretty minimally

4/5

EP112 Stun Spore Detour - Once again another decent episode with focus only on Misty. Team Rocket was over used way to much in this episode but at least some of there antics were pretty funny.

4/5

EP113 Hello Pumello - Well we get a basic set up for our final battle for the Orange League and a great battle between Drake and Ash or at least a good battle for this series.

4/5

EP114 Enter the Dragonite - After the last episode our battle continues it still seems like the writers have no idea how to pace a battle. I'm not sure why because we have a couple filler episodes after this and Johto started in Japan 2 months before GS came out. I guess the writing team just had no idea how to execute a battle since we didn't have a real one the entire season. Also Team Rocket trying to steal Dragonite was so freaking unnecessary. The ending was also pretty anticlimactic.

3/5

EP115 Viva Las Lapras - Well this episode was pretty bad and good. The whole pirate sub plot is pretty stupid. But I do like how the tension is raised higher by them and the fact that Lapras is unsure if he'll see his family again.

3/5

EP116 The Underground Round-Up - In this episode we have a young Clint Eastwood impression. Yay? Seriously I've never noticed this as a kid it's pretty strange now. It was probably the writer's attempt to be "western" even though they don't seem to know to much. Overall this is a pretty classic episode but other then the random Clint Eastwood guy and Togepi's random tearful good bye there's nothing to special about it.

3/5

EP117 A Tent Situation - Yay Brock is now back! We never get a real explanation what happened to him and Prof Ivy but I think we're better off not knowing. My only problem is that this episode feels a little to much like ******** at Po-ke Oak Corral. We have Ash return home and see the same pokemon from the previous episode but with Tracy and a pointless Team Rocket attack. The battle we see with Muk is pretty good. Something strange about this episode though is the fact that Team Rocket is the least funny aspect of this episode. I'm not saying that in a bad way though, because it leaves the show a refreshing for not just relying on Team Rocket for humor.

4/5

EP118 A Rivalry Revival - Took them more then 100 episodes but we now finally get to see Ash and Gary "gasp" battle! To bad it's only a few minutes but it's still pretty good. The scene were Gary was walking passed Team Rocket seemed really unnecessary like. YOU WANT THIS GAME SO BADLY YOU WILL WALK RIGHT PASSED THAT TO JOHTO. Team Rocket showing up in this episode seemed a little pointless but still a little fun.

4/5


Pokemon 2000 The Power of One    

Man this movie is a lot better then the previous movie.
For one I like how we see a lot of pokemon panicking it really rises the tension of the events here. How awesome can your movie be when a presidential candidate uses a line from this movie?


Character Analayses    

Ash - Ash kind of took a back seat this season, while I'm not saying he didn't do much, he did a lot but a lot more focus was put on other characters. As I said earlier the Orange Island battles don't feel like actual gym battles they feel more like random filler which is because Ash wasn't growing to much as a character from them in fact it felt like he was growing less. But man does Ash get harmed a lot in this season to go out of the way for other pokemon. He nearly drowns to death trying to save Lapras, electrified to death by Pikachu while under mind control, and let's not forget the amount of times Charizard tried frying Ash. But in a way this is still how our character acts being the character who goes in without any thought about the consequences which is what makes him both a good and bad battler. Charizard Chills is probably the best example of this as he stays up a night trying to keep Charizard warm so he won't die despite his disloyalty. You could also say it was shown in his final battle with Drake but it so poorly done I'm honestly not sure. As the show develops though Ash does calm down but here compared to how he acted last season there's still little to no change. He's still really immature such as constantly demanding for Prima to battle him but that trait disappears with time.

Pikachu - Even less focus seemed to be put on Pikachu this season, with Ash mostly relying on his other pokemon like Lapras, Charizard and Squirtle. The only episode were he reseaved focus was Bound for Trouble were Meowth
and Pikachu were separated from there trainers and are forced to work together. While at first he refuses to work with him he's still willing to except as an equal as they continue on through the episode, only to blast off Meowth in the end. Pokemon Double Trouble also had some development of Pikachu's stubbornness with him having trouble working with Charizard because he was self-centered but it felt pretty hashed since the battle was pretty poorly done in the first place. The only bug battle Pikachu had done this season was against Dragonite who in an easy win manged to take down
a powerful Dragonite, this will be the first many of Piakchu's inconsistent victories though.

Bulbasaur - He basically did absolutely nothing this season, aside from one quick loss from Drake's Electabuzz he didn't do anything. This probably the reason why he's the only one besides Pikachu who will stay for another 2 seasons.

Squirtle - Unlike Bulbasaur Squitle did a lot in this season. His biggest battle up to this point was probably his battle with Rudy where he gained victory by learning Hydro Pump which would take out many opponents in the future. We also get some slight foreshadowing of future events in pokemon water war. Squirtle basically gets involved as he wants to help out the other pokemon put out the fire feeling slightly helpless which doesn't help his pride to much either only to eventually get over it.

Charizard - Charizard spends more then half the season still disobeying Ash. This is only finally changed when after he looses a battle to a Poliwrath and his flame is almost burnt out Charizard realizes how much Ash cares for him. While he may be a bad trainer, he is still a good person even when he was saved as a Charmader. This makes him willing to battle together again and becomes willing to try to defeat Poliwrath again. There are other moments with him in this season too like how he refused to help out Ash build an ice sled or his pointless rivalry with Tracy's Syther but that's it. We does end up putting a powerful fight against Drake's Dragonite only to eventually loose but he becomes one of Ash's strongest pokemon for the future.

Lapras - Probably Ash's most prominent pokemon in the Orange Islands, Lapras. Who is well a pokemon. In its introduction episode it is shown to be afraid of humans after being washed on the beach and attacked by the ruffians. At first Lapras is afraid of humans due to this trama but when Ash saves it from Team Rocket it ends up becoming a member of his team. In the end it spends the entire season just carrying around Ash, Misty, and Tracy. Lapras would still hold up good in it's only battle against Drake's Gengar despite ending in a tie. The following episode however would have him returned to his family as he wished and we say goodbye to Lapras.

Snorlax - Was another one of Ash's pokemon in this saga that would become his strongest. Despite being asleep for most of the time his use has alfor either battling, or just having another episode like wake-up Snorlax other then that nothing.

Misty - One of the biggest aspects of the Orange Islands would be the emphasis that was put on PokeShipping. This started when Ash and Misty were kidnapped by Team Rocket and called them "lovebirds" only to quickly deny it while blushing. One of the biggest developments in Misty's character was in the Meridian Island Mismatch, after Misty has gotten close to the gym leader of the Island, Rudy. Seeing how polite and mature he is Rudy offers Misty to stay on the island with him and even get married (Which was only in the Japanese version) However during Ash's battle with Rudy she decides that she wants to continue journeying with Ash. While fans might say this comes to a final conclusion in the Orange Islands, I must disagree because after that it just doesn't seem to go anywhere. Misty was also displayed as being determined to save her friends in Stun Spore detour, an episode that focuses entirely on her. While Misty did do a lot in this season it still showed she was willing to stay with her friends and care for them. This might be because there's a lot less slap stick now but it's still character development darn it!

Tracy - Tracy does probably less then Brock. His entire role in the series is to;
1. Draw Pokemon
2. Fanboy over Prof. Oak
Of course while taking the role of Brock he also has to explain everything in the series to people who no little about pokemon which isn't needed to much. It's also explained that he knows a lot about the Orange Islands despite how we have little back story from him it left him as a pretty boring character. He only had to episodes focused on him.
One was Tracey gets Bugged were his entire capture of Syther felt more like something Ash could have done. The other one was Wacky Watcher which didn't establish much about his character anyways. This is Tracy's only season since he ends spending the rest of the series staying with Prof Oak but is nice to see him towards the end of every series though.

Team Rocket - Team Rocket get a lot less focus in this season which is easily a good thing. Team Rocket has gotten very repetitive as I mentioned earlier and it's always better for them to be used as less as possible or least have material that's kind of funny. Watching them just using an over sized machine to grab Pikachu for 100th is not amusing! It's just boring! This episode did start the trend of an entire episode just focused on Team Rocket though and seeing them not trying to capture Pikachu is pretty amusing. It had also tested the groups loyalty to Meowth. As Meowth had to decide of whether living an entire life life of pleasure or continuing with Jessie and James. While I do believe the idea Meowth returning to them after finding out that it was there only coins that had saved them. I don't beileve that Team Rocket would be willing to save Meowth by doing that but oh well character development is character development.

Final Verdict    

The Orange Islands was not only one of the shortest seasons but also one of the most memorable for most nostalgia fans. Personally I can understand because overall it is slightly better then the Indigo League. While some of the episodes terrible it almost left the series feeling consistent like they were consistent with the amount of terrible episode to good episode ratio. However probably the best aspect of the Orange Island is one major change for the series, and that is more emphasis on other characters. I liked this because it left our other character and there pokemon a lot more interesting rather then having them just stand around and do nothing. Another thing that's different about this series is that when production on this series started the writers had kept in mind that this would be released internationally. However the writer's attempts to be "Western Friendly" are pretty bad such as having characters like Clint Eastwood or Grucho Marx. Apparently I think the writers knew as much about our culture then 4kids knows about there's. There's also a big change in the amount battling, most of them only lasting of few minutes with them poorly done. I can understand were they are coming from since last season didn't have to many good battles either but it still feels like wasted effort since the entire game this show is based off of is fighting! If there's something that hasn't changed it would be the quality of the voice acting and the animation. Well the animation is kind of better with relying less on constantly reusing the same animation of Ash turning his hat backwards and more diverse background although the writers weren't afraid to reuse animation when they had the chance.
Overall with more focus put on other characters, semibad episodes and improved animation the Orange Islands was okay.

3/5


4 To Watch
Pikachu Revolts
Pokemon Food Fight
Mandarin Island Mismatch
Misty Meets Her Match

3 To Skip
Joy of Pokemon
A Way Day Off
Get Along Little Pokemon

Magmaster12 February 5, 2012 07:27:34 AM

Johto Journeys
pray for me

Johto Rage Count 49
Episode Review    

EP119 Don't Touch Dile - And thus begins an incredibly longed out journey. I think this was basically the writers trying to copy the idea of the stolen starter from GS. Except instead of the well developed jerk rival we get the Team Rocket Morons THANK YOU JOHTO. This episode alone is incredibly poorly paced as it is.
My god Prof Elm has such a bad voice actor too. My god what terrible start to what is a terrible saga.

2/5

EP120 The Double Trouble Header - In this episode we get introduced to the baseball fan Casey and man she's really annoying. Of course because she's a baseball fan we get baseball puns. Yay? The way she talks about her baseball team sounds like the same way I talk about the New York Mets, I know they suck but I route for them anyways. But seeing Casey get upset was pretty good while giving her back story despite being kind of weak. As for Tea Rocket well they feel more like real villains trying to trick another pokemon trainer. Also why do they just have Brock and Misty on sidelines just watching Casey and Ash suffer no need to help your friends guys.

3/5

EP121 A Sappy Ending - This is another episode that suffers WSIGAD as in there's no tension in this episode. Why should I honestly care about whether or not the forest is dying it's just a really bad environmental message that phoned in. In this episode Misty seems to be as enthusiastic as I am but it's probably only because she's afraid of bug pokemon. Also why are the Pinsir even going to other side of the forest in the first place? It's never explained I also don't get why they're not destroying there own forest also. And yet again Team Rocket is behind everything. So now it's obvious what going to happen next. They don't even need the sap Team Rocket just needs to make a plot. AGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH THANK YOU JOHTO. Also why the heck does Ash go through the entire episode without trying to catch Heracross? AGH

1/5

EP122 Roll on, Pokemon - After the last episode suddenly it appears Ash WANTS to catch a pokemon. I also hate the fact that not only does the idea of Donphan finding Amberite makes no sense but it's ability is never brought up again. Ash battling Donphan just felt like something to make this episode longer not that it matters since every episode so far has been like this.

2/5

EP123 Illusion Confusion - We start off with a group lost yet again only to run into Gary. Gary says that a Hoothoot is required to get through the forest or you'll be lost forever. Are you kidding me? That makes no sense!! Also Gary isn't willing to help Ash, hope you're happy coping with Ash's death Gary! And finally there's the fact that the only Hoothoot left isn't good at it's purpose. But of course how else will this constant cleshe bring tension aside from the obvious result that's going to happen. AGH TRIPLE RAGE!!!!! If there's one thing good about this episode it would be the illusions made by Hoothoot even though it was only done to create fake tension.

1/5

EP124 Flower Power - First of all why does this episode take place in a random town? I wouldn't be so mad about this but they never visted Cherrygrove City in the an anime and it's actually a pretty important town! Anyways the string of no tension filler continues. now we have to deal with Bellosum that mess one single move while street performing. OH NO SOME ONE HELP THEM IMMEDIATELY! Also many people watch this? There's honestly nothing impressive about this episode.

2/5

EP125 Spinarak Attack - Well this episode isn't as god awful as the other ones this season so far. Not say much though but it's nice to see an episode with some slight continuity. Such as Jenny thinking the group are detectives, Misty's fear of bug pokemon and James' bottle caps. but something I don't get is the fact they don't establish whether or not they're stealing from rich people. Probably nitpicking but it would raise the tension a little bit. Also for a series that's supposed to focus on the new Johto pokemon I don't get why we usually see one per episode. Or the fact it seems like the group are helping Officer Jenny for no reason besides Brock having the hots for Jenny.

3/5

EP126 Subbull Snobbery - This episode isn't too bad since it shows the characters with pretty full personality. Especially how Brock yet again spoke out for a pokemon. Also 4Kids now apparently thinks Jelly Filled Donuts = Popcorn Balls. Problem i don't think it's enough for me to care. Serously what's the deal with how Team Rocket's balloon just randomly landed by them only for them to be blasted off soon afterword.

3/5


EP127 Little Big Horn - You know Brock can be a really over looker character some times. This episode show how he can actually be not only an interesting character but also shows off how good of pokemon breeder. See he's good for something aside from random flirting. I guess the only problem with this episode would be the fact that like all the other episodes so far this episode is poorly paced. And what is it with how the pokemon in Johto like to scare trainers with there illusions? This song also randomly starts playing the song together forever for some reason. It totally makes no sense at all like 4Kids believes music must always be playing in the background or people will lose attention for 5 seconds without music? Well I'm now distracted by that to write about it so I guess not. Brock using tough love to get rid of Stantle reminded me of Harry and the Hendersons. Also the Team Rocket attack in this episode is just stupid. James basically spent all of there money on a robotic Stantle to capture one weak baby Stantler for no real reason after not even seeing it battle. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is stupid even for Team Rocket standards. This is also the first time wee see one of Brock's Pokemon since the Indigo League to bad it's only on screen for 10 seconds.

3/5

EP128 Chikorita Rescue - The Chikorita in this episode defeated Ash's Bulbasaur and Charizard. PREPARE FOR INCOSISTANSIES. At least this episode tries to explain why Team Rocket wants to capture a Pokemon for once. Other then that this is just another capture episode with the pokemon getting turned around by how hard headed Ash is.

3/5

EP129 Once in a Blue Moon - Man this episode is cleche and stupid even for this shows standards. Of course the first time we see the GS Ball it ends up getting stolen and of course Team Rocket tries to steal the pokemon of the day for no explained reason and of course when Ash gets it back he's the lucky one. Can't it be someone else who gets all the luck. Also Officer Jenny just goes out and flat out arrests the group because they don't know anything. You'd think by now the group would learn to research the area. The whole plot to this episode is well stupid at the idea that a pokemon would go around stealing round items with no one caring because it gives good luck!? Maybe it's just more common in Japan for that stuff to be accepted. And the Quagsire steal all this stuff so they can through it up a waterfall. What? Finally, the fact that the GS Ball is deemed lucky from this episode to bad it's just going to be a forgotten side plot!

1/5


EP130 The Whistle Stop - Typical Johto filler, no tension, pointless Team Rocket Attack, boring character of the day, and same old running gags.
Johto = Pain

1/5

EP131 Ignorance Is Blissey - Wow an episode that's actually good well not just good but really good. The antics of the ditsy Blissey were pretty funny. We also have a confusing bit of continuity. How did she try to become a pokemon nurse while also joining a Bike Gang, Dropping out of a Pokemon Tech then meeting up with James to join Team Rocket? But it's also surprisingly emotionally in trying to explain her backstory. Showing that even Jessie has her limits when it comes to being evil.

5/5

EP132 A Bout Sprout - Well sooner or later the anime would have to follow something from the game. I just wish it wasn't that spinning guy you met in Violet City. Seriously it's so weird! Oh well at least his appearance is brief. But what is it with Team Rockets motive in this episode. Turn over Pikachu or we'll become world renown terrorists. What? This episode still wasn't to bad because the character of the day wasn't totally bland.

4/5

EP133 Fighting flyer with Fire - Seriously you'd think by now Ash would stop trusting people with Pikachu because of Team Rocket and stop letting them eat time out of such an important episode! Team Rocket says they're not as smart as they think they are. Well duh they keep falling for there disguises and seriously just glasses for disguises? But I guess if it works for Clark Kent it works for Team Rocket. Also like all of the other Johto gym leaders in this region Falkner is DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL. I also don't understand why the only Gen II flying type he uses is the already seen Hoothoot. Where the writers restricted to to the Gen II pokemon they could use early on? This episode isn't to bad the battle is well executed. However I'm still pretty disappointed because it was a pretty long wait but I guess there was probably no way they could make it pleasurable.

4/5

EP134 For Crying out Loud - Well back to a string of terrible fillers. This is just another bland typical filler not much to say. I don't even get we need a Marill episode when Tracy owned one.

2/5

EP135 Tanks a Lot - You know I really don't get it. Why do the writers feel they must force Johto pokemon down our throats one at a time? Why do they have to run around being cute when nothing like that is in you know THE GAME! Heaven forbid we have a real battle and not another longed out Team Rocket battles. Okay well aside from that rage attack again. At least episode has some tension, from a tank but i personally think fans would be more then happy to see Togepi killed. I think this episode was one that tried to over the top by using crazy schemes but the executions are just not good. Seriously Ash having Charizard use flamethrower on the window for the tank, why wasn't that done earlier? I also find it ironic they cut the length it takes to get away from Violet City when they still aren't in Azalea Town yet.

4/5

EP136 Charizard's Burning Ambition - Let me start off by saying this, Charizard deserved to released! I mean let's face it, he had to use him in the first gym but it would have been way to easy for him to go through the rest of the gyms with such a strong pokemon. Overall this episode is also really good too.
But why is it that whenever an episode is good this season it seems to get everything right? Interesting character of the day, interesting plot, and Team Rocket getting used minimally. Why aren't all episodes this consistent? And oh man the final scene of this episode is just fantastic.

5/5

EP137 Grin to Win - I personally think this episode could have been a lot worse. At least the antics with Team Rocket and Sunflora were interesting. It's also nice to see Meowth get used for something besides Team Rocket for a change. But I hate that fact the 4kids seems to constantly insist on playing Together Forever like it has a special meaning whenever the Japanese version has no music. I like the fact that one of Sunflora's is really tall and Brock suggests it might be one steroids. Gotta love 2000 4kids humor. This is also the first episode of Johto we've seen that displays 3 Johto pokemon in one episode. Took them long enough! Not that it matters since Snubull is a recurring pokemon. His entire appearance was so forced too.

2/5

EP138 Chikorita's Big Upset -Pokemon physiology, in a children's anime. The writers can barely write this show for kids what makes them think they can do the opposite? In this episode we also have a bunch of random fighting pokemon. And guess what? NONE OF THEM ARE JOHTO POKEMON. God this show even fails at it's own poorly done premise! Also the whole plot with Chikorita is just really boring. I think this might have worked as a subplot but this is Johto where everything sucks. If there's one thing I like about this is the fact the Ash tries to save Chikorita and Pikachu himself instead of using his pokemon. Although it makes no sense, serously there are at least 13 other good pokemon you can't use any of them? Why does Ash never do this in any other situation? I well I still like it. I guess the good thing would be this episode went by fast. BUT SERIOUSLY 4KIDS STOP PLAYING TOGETHER FOREVER WE'RE ALL SICK OF IT NOW! This episode also feels pretty pointless since this isn't the last time Chikorita's relation with Ash will be shown as an issue.

2/5

EP139 Foul Weather Friends - Typical boring episode not worth talking about since it's a copy and paste of almost the other episodes in this show so far. Good thing about this episode, Brock actually does something. Ah the your special moral pushed in at the end, so annoying! At least it gave a point to this episode.

2/5

EP140 Superhero Secret - Man why is Brock so obsessed with finding out who Gligar man is, it feels out of character of him. I guess a plus for this episode is that the plot is really original. For whatever reason the animators in this episode decided to make Misty look 20 years old and hotter then the girl Brock flirts with in this episode. But man this episode is awesome though. A pokemon based superhero there is no way they can screw this up! The overall execution of this episode was great too.

4/5

EP141 Mild 'n Wholly - Rather watch sheep to fall asleep then watch this episode. Of course we even get more then one Team Rocket attack in one episode because well what else can be done in this episode?

1/5

EP142 Wired for Battler - First off were the heck is the guy getting all this information on trainers in the last five years to find out so much including there strategies. I mean did he use Bulbapedia or something? The whole idea of a guy trying to predict the out come of battle makes perfect sense. Well gee it's not like something like that can be calculated in the game, oh wait it can! But I guess pokemon battles can be based on luck is only if there are critical hits. This episode spends way to much time having Ash try to get the character of the day to give in. What annoys me is the fact that the trainer tries to tell his Scizor to finish off the battle with False Swipe. YOU CAN NOT DO THAT IN THE GAME WRITERS DID YOU EVEN LOOK UP ANYTHING ABOUT THE GAME!!!! GAWD. It is such a bad ending to the battle. Other then that this episode is just basic.

3/5

EP143 Good Quil Hunting - Oh right I almost forgot, Ash himself could catch some of the new rarely seen pokemon. Ash is so excited about capturing a Cyndaquil, I'm gonna catch one practically abandon it then evolve 10 years from now. Ug more rage. Maybe it's because they've made so many appearances now and I've just gone insane,
Team Rocket is actually pretty enjoyable in this episode.This also seems to have pretty good use of Ash since he actually comes up with pretty clever tactics to take down the mechanical robot. Although I personally think the ending this episode was left pretty empty. The writers seem to have an obsession with associating fire starters with abusive trainers.

3/5

EP144 A Shadow of a Drought - Well I guess some of the antics with Team Rocket in the beginning of this episode are pretty good. I also like the irony of Misty and Ash arguing over whether they should go to the gym or Kurt first. Either continue on with the only plot device that will never lead anywhere or continue what is left of the plot. Hmmmmm. Also at the end of the episode it just turns out that no one will be mad at the group because it rained.
:giopalm:

3/5

EP145 Going Apricorn - Well it's finally happened after many months and days we have finally reached Kurt to give the GS Ball to only to find out. ??? NOTHING THIS SIDE PLOT WAS ABANDONED!!! Bad writing aside this episode is pretty general. I mean the stuff with Maisy and the Apricorns felt pretty boring and repetitive. And my god Team Rocket just die already!!!! Also why are they even bothering to make special pokeballs? Also why haven't the characters ever used there fast balls for promotions? This episode would a lot better if it didn't start so many freaking plot holes!

2/5

EP146 Gettin' the Bugs Out! - Another gym battle another bland gym leader. Also why does Team Rocket have to appear in this episode, they're so freaking pointless! They do nothing for this entire battle. Also Bugsy says this is first time someone has beaten his second pokemon in a long long time. This is the third battle in a row we've heard something like to rise the tension. I don't buy it. Syther spinning around to deflect fire attacks to aviod fire attacks, that's just an excuse or a bad climax and end to this good battle. The group is in shock of the fact that they almost left the town without there new apricorn balls. Not that it matters since Brock will never use his Heavy Ball. Ash also says it was a long journey but it was worth the wait. No. Just no.

3/5

EP147 A Farfetch'd Tale - Once again we have another episode that doesn't focus on a Johto Pokemon. I don't care to much though since this is an event from the game and it's the game's fault for not doing the same. This episode is still just as annoying as any other Johto pokemon of the day episode.

2/5

EP148 Tricks of The Trade - Now we have an episode that focuses on something from the games again, pokemon swap meet. It's this episode that makes me mad but what happens in it. First off we get our introduction to the overused and pointless pokemon who last 10 years, Wobbefett. Next we have Ash permanently sending Heracross off
to Prof Oak for pointless research. Because well he can't have an original pokemon on his team for a full season he has to use every started. AGH. There's also the fact that Ash tries to show off his Taurus so the character of the can get offers but he refuses. ASH YOU HAVE 30 TAUROS AND REFUSE TO TRADE ONE. IT THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO CATCH AS MANY POKEMON AS POSSIBLE. I wouldn't get so mad at this episode but come on, give him some more pokemon because we're stuck with the same ones for a very long time. I'm also not a big fan of Jessie trading Lickitung because it leaves her with Arbok for the next two years. Sigh oh well. This episode still isn't to bad. This is also the first episode I've seen that uses Gen II with out a reason FINALLY. Although oddly they only seem willing to use Gen II pokekmon that have already appeared. Seriously the group is so stupid! They couldn't tell the fact that Benny's Lickitung was traded for the Wobbefett Team Rocket just suddenly had! Man

3/5

EP149 The FireRing Squad - You know release episodes can either be really good having pokemon reach the peek of there development or poorly done by have the pokemon released with lousy excuses, this episode is no exception. First off I'm having trouble understanding the idea of thousands of people willing to gather in a big stadium to watch pokemon put out fires, that's just stupid. I also don't get why he borrowed Psyduck when he should know how useless it is. I know you could reason that the guy never met Poliwag but Psyduck never did anything! The fact that Squirtle has to help his team feels so freaking forced, I mean they're already one of the best water pokemon squads but they need to be even better! Oh well could be worse. Why does Squirtle get a montage in his release but Charizard does not. Oh well it was probably because we already had one and he was overused.

3/5

EP150 No Big Whoop - This an episode about a Preschool. For Whooper. I couldn't joke about this if tried! So the character of the day has to meet her mother. So in place of her she agrees to put the twerps in charge. Because yeah putting total strangers in charge of your job, great idea! The antics in this episode are so unfunny! For once I was actually HOPING Team Rocket would appear.

1/5

EP151 Tunnel Vision - Once again we get another episode focus on the Johto pokemon of the wait. In the episode we get a focus on the pokemon Onix that has already made plenty of appearances. In this episode we actually get focused on the now unfunny recurring gag pokemon Jigglypuff and Snubble sadly. All we get in this episode is a bunch of the terrible running gags. Writers here is the thing with running gags, in order to make running gags funny, they actually need to be funny the second time around and not identical to the first time it was used! This episode had absolutely no effort put into it.

1/5

EP152 Hour of the Houndour - Pretty basic episode but there's nothing in it that really stands out. With maybe the exception of Brock doing something for once.

2/5

EP153 The Totodile Duel - You know I'm kind of glad they waited a while for Ash to catch all of the starter pokemon. The less screen time these annoying guys get the better. Well I'm mainly referring to the fact that it will get old fast. I honestly would still prefer for Misty to catch the starter pokemon since it wouldn't feel just like Ash's Kanto team and give Misty a pokemon with a personality. But wait Ash is the main character and must have THE MOST PREDICTABLE TEAM POSSIBLE!!! Also James does the can can right in front of the group, you think they would have noticed it was him. The battle between Ash and Misty was pretty poorly done but everything else I liked.

3/5

EP154 Hot Matches - First off the battles in this episode are identical to each other. Each one was Skarmory using swift, someone using agility then dodging flamethrower. How lame. But I actually do like seeing Ash actually training his pokemon for once, it makes it more believable that he is a good trainer.

3/5

EP155 Love, Totodile Style - Pokemon in love. Is it a good idea?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s
So yes this is just as bad as it sounds. Of course this is an episode with pokemon circus, because THAT hasn't been done before right? Totodile is also freaking annoying in this episode especially when it gets rejected by Azumarill. This is also probably the closest Team Rocket has gotten to actully catching Pikachu. The only problem is the fact the decided to spend the entire night in a cabin near the twerps when taking off in there GIANT MEOWTH BALLOON. At least try to use a different mode of transportation for
once!

2/5

EP156 Foul Play - I've noticed that most of the capture episodes have been pretty good. To bad this episode features the final member of Ash's Johto that will require catching. thank you Johto. The antics with Ash and Noctowl's illusion is pretty fun along with how eccentric our character of the day is. This is also the third episode in a row where Ash competes with another trainer to capture the pokemon. Nice to know the writing is so original still. The twerps also argue with Team Rocket about them using a machine to capture a pokemon claiming it as un honorable. Really guys just now you're pointing this out. Them playing dirty is as original as them trying to steal Pikachu. This episode was okay but very unoriginal. I don't understand why people seem to like all the mechas Team Rocket has when they all end up with the same obvious results.

3/5

EP157 Forrest Grumps - This episode features The Twerps and Team Rocket working together. And it totally works! I mean the character interactions between the group are really good with us getting seeing them work together. Especially because it gives us a chance for the characters to talk about something besides well pokemon. I also REALLY like Jessie in this episode because it makes her more fleshed out again and question our loyalty to Team Rocket. While Misty is left in a light similar to Jessie because of her own selfishness. But seriously the group is running across a random rickety bridge to get away from the Urasing. So in turn they decide to execute straight out murder and cut the bridge! Why? Because pokemon are jerks! This still gives us a good moment of everyone working to together as a team. I especially the realization of how Misty, Meowth and James were afraid to jump off a cliff that has actually only 3 feet high. Might be nitpicking but it annoys me that Team Rocket at the end of the episode (especially Jessie) they're totally uneffected by this episode, I mean not even 1 second of regret? Well actually looking back I think it might be more fitting for her to just blaim James and Meowth but I still would have like to see her affected more. Oh well still a great episode. Also in the end the area was an Ursaring mating ground, The sign to not disturb then and if you do it just may be.... MAY BE WHAT WE WILL GET A HUMAN/POKEMON HYBRID!? I want to see some explanation!

4/5

EP158 The Psychic Sidekicks - First off here's something I should point out, the writers during Kanto and the Orange Islands thought ghost pokemon were super effective against psychic types when that wasn't changed until Gen II. Now that we're in Gen II the writers decided to correct themselves despite the change. :jchan: I should credit 4kids though for making a reference to trainer tips and not having it get lost in translation. Speaking which 4kids never released this episode on dvd because they aired the episode out order. Nice going. Also use of the move future sight, good just really don't get why so many were so shocked. Man it would really suck if a dark type pokemon that is immune to pyschic types attacked this town. O have a very strong feeling this episode was written for Kanto and forced out of desperation by the Johto writers. Just another episode were a trainer of the day we'll never see again battles Ash and has obstacle Team Rocket comes along and tries to make the obstacle worse only for the trainer to overcome there problem in a time of need. I swear it's like this episode has written by mad libs. If there one thing good about this episode it's that along with the great battle it's also a pretty funny episode.

3/5

EP159 Fortune Hunters - Why does it seem like that the writers usually use stuff from the games before or after gym battles? Also the disguises for Butch and Cassidy really tricked me until I heard there voice lol stupid trainers just handing over there pokemon. This episode pretty good since it once again kind of goes off the topic of pokemon again originality is strongly praised this season. We even see James deny the facts of the book only to quickly accept it and we get an incredibly over the top performance.
This episode still down plays Butch and Cassidy while not as much as future episodes but because of how they will be used in a future arc. I also don't get why they got the idea for the daycare owners on that route to actually be evil Team Rocket members, oh well. Oddly this is also the first time the characters see Giovanni, after 159 episodes how anticlimactic. Looking back it's pretty stupid seeing Giovanni give support for Butch and Cassidy when we've never seen them succeed.

4/5


Spell of Unown    

You know as much how fans love this movie I don't remember liking this movie to much. However I might actually be wrong .
I started off by watching the Pichu bros short and it's pretty boring. Of course I'm reviewing something far out of my age range but come on it's so boring and compelling.
It's really feels like something just to stretch out the movie by another 18 minutes. But pokemon is pokemon at least it actually shows pokemon we haven't seen in the anime yet. Also Ash says that it's the day the first met. THEN WHY IS HE STILL 10!!?!!?!?!?!?!
Okay I never noticed this but, I really like how our villain is a little girl and not only that but it's really believable that a seven year old would do all this and not be aware actions. It took us almost a half hour for us to finally see Ash's face. I also like the battle at the beginning of this episode since it showcases all of his pokemon that he used this season almost like a call back. I like the fact that when Dahlia comes out of the car she seems to only care that Pikachu is present and starts groping her breast. It's probably more likely just trying to hug her but it's not helped by the fact the camera man seems to want to get in on this action. Also the music score sounds really cheap, I wouldn't be complaining about this if 4kids had bothered to keep the original music and not use there own 5 MAN orchestra! I also appreciate how high the tension in this movie is, since we're left with both sides from Molly who is afraid of loneliness and Ash who feels the same way towards rescuing his mother. Brock also seems to be flirting with Molly during his pokemon battle with Brock. Brock you're sick she's seven! I'm also not a big fan of Ash's friends being sidelined for part of the movie but I think actually works to make the characters more interesting especially since Ash's friends don't do to much in the movies it's nice to see them do something. But towards the end they just seem to disappear! Oh man, the battle between Charizard and Entei is really amazing. Here is probably one of my favorite aspects of this movie and it is the fact the we have a great moral and tie in with themes without it feeling forced. While the movie is very short it's well rounded up and paced with incredible animation to top it off.

4/5



Full Review    

Well that was the first third of Johto, and is it as bad as everyone says? Well yes and no. First of all we have a lot of terrible episodes that just feel like they're in the same same cycle, character A has a problem, the group tries to fix it, Team Rocket shows up, at the last minute our resolution is resolved. THE END. Okay and even if you were willing to except that, I don't buy it there's only so many times the writers can use the same cliche over and over again. The same thing goes for there running gags which were milked to death this season even the ones that were created this year. I can just imagine the writers sitting in there room having no idea were to take the episode so last minute they just through in a running gag. I especially hate how in every episode we've Brock runs into a hot girl, once again can't our characters run into an ordinary male or ugly female? And even if you over look all of that there's still no tension. I know there are a lot people out there that actually do enjoy fillers and reason that they're fun and aren't always bad. The thing is that can be true as a said there were some episodes that really surprised at had good they were but it was mainly because they were emotional or just original even though some were good at building up tension. For those of you who question why it matters? Thing is all shows need tension! If there's no tension there's little point to series or motivation, or goal which means no plot. The only reason why it is this way is because the writers keep using the same plots! We never see any real reason for the group wanting to help out
the character of the day except for Brock not being able to keep it in his pants! While the original series gave us a basic set up by having raised tension with Gary and Ash wanting to catch 'em all and the Orange Islands had fillers with some tension and more logical plots we have neither here. Gary is more mature now and it seems Ash hates him for no reason. His appearances now seem based around just getting the plot going making him downplayed even more ignoring the tension brought on by there rivalry.
So yes I despite some surprise episodes Johto is as bad as people say it is and I look forward to torturing myself more on my journey through Johto.

2/5


4 To Watch
Ignorance is Blissey
Charizard's Burning Ambition
Superhero Secret
Forest Grumps

____ To Skip
You know what, ALL OF THEM basically aside from maybe the gym battles and the episodes I listed above nothing in this series is worth watching at all!

Magmaster12 February 18, 2012 05:10:01 AM

Johto League Champions    

EP160 A Goldenrod Opportunity -The kids want to eat a hamburger, is it made out of Whitney's dead Miltank!? In all honesty I do like how the anime tries to show us stuff from the game, like the underground tunnel, haircut brothers the bullet train and how Whitey's Miltank is an evil evil pokemon. Whitney is also a pretty fun character, but why does she have a Nidorina!? Who dies after one turn. HATE. Well actually this battle is just really bad in general.

3/5

EP161 A Dairy Tale Ending - I think it's strange seeing Ash think of going back
to Pallet Town after loosing to Whitney, seems out of character for him. I don't understand why Ash doesn't come up with the idea he had to defeat Miltank during his first battle and not against Team Rocket. Also Whitney, the gym leader who cried over loosing to you and didn't give you your badge after beating her in GS just hands over her gym badge after defeating just one of her pokemon. Oh well at least we finally got two episodes for a gym, less time for filler the better.

3/5

EP162 Air Time - This is yet another original episode as it puts Ash in a corner we haven't seen before. While the story that's read feels more like a bad fanfic it was pretty awesome originality wise.

4/5

EP163 The Bug Stops Here - Yet another thing used in the game and while Casey is a very annoying character it's was nice to see Ash actually mentor someone, it also made our hero's less boring. Team Rocket's antics in this episode were also pretty funny including there mecha. This episode wouldn't be so bad though if there weren't so many baseball puns! HATE.

3/5

EP164 Type Casting - The group needs to cross a river and the only way they can get across is by showing an old man a Sudowoodo. Ewww. I guess this was the show's smartest excuse to do the GS event. But I don't get how this makes them have way to Eckriteak City. Then we two random researchers named Pierre and Marie. SUBTLE. And then this episode goes from bad to ungodly boring. I mean does it really matter if it is a Rock type or a Grass type? Are they this desperate to create tension, just throwing a pokemon type war? Moral, next time focus on the obvious facts and not your own like the ones on Wikipedia!

2/5

EP165 Fossil Fools - Yet again Prof Oak pops out of nowhere to be in this episode. Yet again Team Rocket unknowingly causes conflict for the group. You'd think by now they'd at least try to not work near them due to it ending in failure. Okay when Brock pulled Misty away when she was fangirling about water pokemon the same way she does it to him was pretty funny. Man Prof Oak seems to really love Omnamyte but I REALLY do not care myself.

1/5

EP166 Carrying On - Man this episode is SO STUPID! First off this one island has to rely on multiple carrier Pidgey because it's secluded? Why would anyone want to live on an island like this? Why would there be some many pokemon injured at once? How do the people on this island even live being so isolated and relying on carrier Pidgey? Why does this guy have to go out the way to take care of the Pidgey so much? IT MAKE NO SENSE. The whole idea of this doesn't make any sense to begin with why can't the man stop while he's ahead? And of course Team Rocket's also stealing the Pidgey's. SEE this is why it's a terrible idea! Also Ash's Noctowl creates creates illusions for Team Rocket? WHY DOESN'T HE DO THIS MORE OFTEN! Also of course they allow him to become a handler of the pidgey when he seemed to already know plenty and when he was put in a corner and didn't do anything! There's also the fact the grandfather is still willing to let the kid waste the rest of his life waster his time for an unnecessary stupid job!

0/5

EP167 Hassle in the Castle - This episode easily has the worst Team Rocket motto. And my god them and there bad puns. But I do enjoy how Brock, and Team Rocket are trying to get out of the maze, while they're not doing as a team in fact they're pretty bland but I do enjoy Jessie getting slapstick in favor of Wobbefett. Zubat evolving in this episode seemed REALLY random! Mainly because we've bearly seen it get used (like most of Brock's pokemon)

2/5

EP168 Two Hits and a Miss - Darn it! I still hate Lisa Otiz as a voice actress, she's just so bad! and she gets a big role in this episode. Doesn't help the fact that this also yet another boring episode. And am so sick of the YOUR POKEMON MUST WORK AS A TEAM thing it's so freaking over done for the love god writers stop it already! Right now if I could choose between watching more episodes and getting my arms and legs removed I'd ask for them to bring it on!

1/5

EP169 A Hot Water Battle - It's now gotten to the point were 4kids could make any kind of pun and it will be an episode title, it doesn't even have to pertain the actual episode all that matters is that it's a pun no matter how little sense it will make! Not only that but this episode is also just plain terrible. The entire episode basically features the incredibly unevolved Johto Starters trying to chase around Aipom on a ball. There is no way this premise can be done right! At least this episode has some tension but it's for the pokemon of the group I honestly would rather see dead and Team Rocket.

1/5

EP170 Hook Line Sinker -Finally an episode that isn't cringe worthy! Well it's Misty focused and I've said many times before how she's such a good character. I hate the fact that our character of the day is a villain who has nothing better to do but to torture our protanganist for no explained reason! Really hate that cliche. Team Rocket was also pretty good in this episode! Also it might have been a catfish? Ash do you mean animals exist in this world or were you referring to Stunfisk? It annoys the hell out of me how because there's a tie and of course we end up getting a Poliwhirl vs Poliwrath, this feels more like set up for it's evolution, but really? It just have to be a battle they have no other solution! Also Team Rocket's attack = unneeded.

3/5

EP171 Beauty and The Breeder - I'm really sick of seeing bland, boring, unoriginal characters. Also we don't find out who won the contest, as if this show had nothing to build up anyways, after all this is the last time we see Vulpix!

2/5

EP172 A Better Pill To Swallow - This is a pretty basic but slightly memorable episode. For one it was a random scene of Meowth falling in love with James.
I guess this also means Team Rocket was funny in this episode, having many pokemon fall in love with them. Also Brock the lesson you learned in this episode was totally out no were! Why does he suddenly learn a lesson when he did nothing in this episode!!

3/5

EP173 Power Play - The kid's voice in this episode is probably the worst yet, it's like the voice actress is trying to do both an English accent and a kid's voice at the same time and failing at both. Also Gary just walking away from Ash, there's being a jerk, being a moron and just being out of character, this a combination of both! I also hate the fact that we suddenly have Ash run into Gary and there rivalry starts up again after we've had no mention of it for more then a year! The worst part is the fact that after this episode it's completely ignored! This episodes seems to be proof how much Gary, pretty much the guy who raised tension in the original series has been downsized into a terrible rival!. He's just so bland and boring now. Team Rocket's antics with the Wobbefett Robot was pretty funny, seeing them actually scheme a plan, it's just awesome to watch. Also why was the handle on the dam missing in the first place? And why was it chained? I must admit that I also still like the fact that it shows how Ash can be a good trainer in his own right and make it believable that Gary has changed.

4/5

EP174 Mountain Time - This episode is going to be terrible, I can just tell it, which is why my attention is was pretty waned. While Team Rocket is strongly overused but funny, it is nice to see an episode with *gasp* tension. but man the character of the day is so boring! I'm also starting to realize how freaking useless Togepi is, it just sits there and says its name, this the first for a long time since it's actually done something but he's such a forced mascot.

3/5

EP175 Wobbu-palooza - During the Johto days the writers really seemed to like Wobbufett. Can you imagine these people if they saw a wynuat? Also the villains in this episode, they just need to get a life there lack of motive is just (n) Also no pokemon are allowed to battle because it's festival despite there being danger?

2/5

EP176 Imitation Confrontation - Not much to say about this episode, aside from the return of Dupleca who is now much more boring overall it's just terrible.

1/5

EP177 Trouble With Snubble - After spending about 50 episodes as a poorly done running gag, we're apparently now supposed to take it seriously when I would like to see it dead. It's really just another boring episode.

3/5

EP178 Ariados Amigos - First of all, I don't get why they use the random sister of Koga, Iya in favor of the actual game character and gym leader who has never appeared in the show yet, Janine. But NO we can't get any refrence to the game EVER because this is Johto!!!! Overall this episode was still pretty awesome, except for obviously the poorly done Team Rocket action. Still Iya is the first character we've seen in long time that wasn't bland and flat as cardboard.

4/5

EP179 Wings N' Things - The story for this episode was pretty good, but Ash and his friends do nothing this entire episode!
DEXTER: Yanma's 2 most powerfu l attacks are Tackle Double Team and Sonic Boom.
Nice to know 4kids know how to count.

2/5

EP180 The Grass Route - OH NO in this episode they're say pokemon are actually hurt from battle!? You meaning I've been killing my little friends for years now!? We also see Ash get over confident which I don't really get because it seems to come out of nowhere. Seeing Ash get overconfident makes him seem more unlikable then seeing it as character development.

2/5

EP181 Apple Corp - This hasn't been easy, not easy at all!!! I've already sat through some of the worst episode I could ever imagine, there's no way it could get any worse, I
thought for sure that there's no way I can see an episode any worse. Then I herd that the other episodes that I thought were the worse , but THIS is the episode many people consider the worse! As per usual, pray for me! First off, the character of the day immediately thinks Pikachu is an apple thief! Why? Because it was holding an apple!
Of course the apple thief are Pichu. KILL THEM KILL THEM NOW THEN WE WPN'T HAVE NOTCHED EAR PICHU AND NO MASS GENOCIDE. Then a Fearow attacks and Pikachu saves them. The Pichu's while now hungry have returned the apples. But now the girls is just letting the Pichu take the apples!? Bad news, we're no only 10 minutes in!!!
Now the Pichus are going around attacking whatever pokemon are trying to get all attacking pokemon who want food. SHAME ON THEM FOR WANTING FOOD!! Really it was revealed there's a food shortage in the forests and now they're going around attacking them. Oh wonderful it's time for our padding, er I mean Team Rocket to take the fruit oh no! IT'S WORSE THEN POKEMON POACHERS, actuak quite. Seriously though why is Team Rocket's vacuum sucking out now, it's never explained, wouldn't this shoot the apples out? They also ran out of power so whats charging it? Why don't they put it back on suck so they can suck up the Pichu? And of course they end up destroying the generator by shocking the balloon to much, I'm pretty sure batteries don't work that way. Well that was it, certainly not the worst episode I've seen but clearly really bad and stupid.

1/5

EP182 Howl of Houndoom - I really hate Togepi now, we just keep seeing it stand around and be cute so we can all buy it's products!! This entire episode is based around Togepi being a complete moron and I can't take it anymore this is worse then the Pichu episode!! Teaam Rocket is so pointless in this episode. My god this episode has one the worst pop ballads I've ever heard!!
Also why do we have a random Raikou appearance in this episode? This episode was just plain terrible.

1/5

EP183 Ghost of a Chance - Man, 4Kids really loves that pun. Also they have the character, the fire breather from the games who hands out the item finder in the games in this episode. I don't get it. IF THEY DO LITTLE THINGS LIKE THAT WHY CAN'T THEY FOLLOW THE FREAKING PLOT AT ALL!?!?!?!?! Also Morty is such a boring gym leader, he spends the entire episode with emotionless expression on his face. I swear it's like they weren't even trying. Overall pretty good since we got some back story from the game and pretty funny James moments.

3/5

EP184 From Ghost to Ghost - Of course the writers can never freaking remember that Normal and Ghost types don't effect each other, or how foresight works. Seriously writers? Pikachu just getting OHKO'd!? Then Noctowl just OHKOing Haunter. Man what a terrible battle, I wouldn't get so mad about this if we didn't have such a long wait with so many terrible episodes! Half the stuff in this episode is devoted to either the Team Rocket antics or Brock just overly explaining everything!

2/5

EP185 Trouble's Brewing - Episodes like this make me understand why people were upset when Misty left the group, she was a really dimensional character and not boring like Brock or Ash. Now it probably would have gotten boring if Sakura was a main character but at the same time refreshing to have another girl part of the party. Still this episode wasn't to bad though, it has a good moral for Sakura who is an interesting character and I'm glad this isn't the last we've seen of her.

4/5

EP186 All that Glitters - Murkrow a jerks. It's really annoying how easily the group keeps failing out of stupidity in this episode. Eric Stuart as James in this performance is one of his worst the guy has no idea how to emote at all! Still a basic episode were nothing happens.

2/5

EP187 The Light Fantastic - Man this episode lingers on sooooooooo much. There was an ancient civilization but because they took all trees it dried up and there's an artist named Van Goose who wants to see a shiny light in the dessert. Does this even sound like a pokemon episode? Also two boring Team Rocket attacks in one episode, bad idea.

1/5

EP188 UnBEARable - This episode is annoying because all the main characters are such morons! Anyone who likes Misty really won't like this episode because she becomes are Mary-Sue just obsessed with cute pokemon despite
being one of strongest members of the group. This episode does build good tension but it lingers on way to much.

3/5

EP189 Moving Pictures - I always found it strange how Todd Snapp made a random reappearance in Johto only to never show up again afterwords, after all we never really had a sequel to his game. Also the episode starts out with Ash almost getting killed by a frozen Sunkern! Yeah I think what I just said speaks for itself. It's weird I strongly remember watching this episode as a kid
for the crazy old people in it, but I personally don't blame myself since this episode really was not that forgettable because of them. But man Eric Stuart just learn to emote already! Team Rocket was trying to escape, they didn't have anything and Ash has Pikachu use Thunderbolt anyways
Our heroes everyone!
Pokedex: The Sunstone can evolve many pokemon such evolving Sunkern into Sunflora and Gloom into Vileplume
4Morons
I hate the fact that all the Sunflora end up running over!
Just for once can't they teach you can't always get what you want?
This was a memorable episode overall, at least Ash finally put his Sun Stone to good use! Now only if they could do the same with there Quick Balls.

4/5

EP190 Spring Fever - Well this anime has gone more then 100 episodes without a hot spring scene, we're easily long overdue! The voice acting in this episode just made it feel like the episode had reached a new low. Especially since Todd Snap did nothing. Also they decide to go after Team Rocket by sliding down a dirt mountain, once again there's nothing I can say about this. But have to admit it is nice to see the recurring plot line of Articuno, since this is pretty boring. Oddly this is the second episode in a row that totally didn't abuse Team Rocket. Other then that this is just another bland filler were our heroes do absolutely nothing.

3/5

EP191 Freeze Frame - The first "arc" for the show comes to a close as Articuno makes his debut in the main cannon anime. This explains why we haven't seen Jigglypuff in a long time or because the fanboys wouldn't stop complaining about how bad the old running gag has gotten. It's also pretty refreshing to see Ash be the voice of reason for Todd, having the roles reversed. While I do like how this episode has a lot of tension built from Articuno, Team Rocket is abused way to much.

4/5

EP192 The Stolen Stones - This episode shows how the writers has little effort when writing Johto because this episode just lingers on and one and on. I mean it's really bad, the narrate every event in great deal! And Team Rocket DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEE
JUST DIE I'M SO SICK OF YOU DIE A LONG AN INCREDIBLY PAINFUL DEATH AS SOON AS POSSIBLE I'M SICK OF YOU PITFALLS, MACHINES AND YOU BLASTING OFF JUST FREAKING DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

1/5

EP193 Dunsparce Deception - This episode is about everyone's favorite pokemon, Dunsparce! Serously the kids in this episode seriously are obsessed with Dunsparce! I think the writers knew it was such a bad pokemon and decided to troll us. Or this was forced by Nintendo to sell there Durnsparce products, which were probably weakest in sales.
The play Team Rocket put on is pretty funny despite seeming unnecessary as usual. This episode is really accurate in showing how annoying it is to catch one, not only does it have a 1% encounter rate but this was laos back when rare pokemon could flee from battle. The conclusion to the episode felt way to similar to every other episode, Team Rocket steals pokemon but refuse to obey them only to attack them when there trainers return.

2/5

EP194 The Wayward Wobbefett - Well this episode was great. We have tension built up from Wobbefett, who by the way has been the best thing to happen to this saga.
Seeing the group try to chase after the clueless Wobbefett is just hilarious. While we have an action subplot with a criminal who just can't get away.

5/5

EP195 Sick Days - I really love this episode, it's easily one of my favorite episodes of Johto because it uses the characters to there full potential including Brock who is shown to be dependent. Being in Culinary really love the stuff with Misty's surprise soup and everyone's reaction to it. Not much else though.

5/5

EP196 The Ring Masters - Seeing an evolved form of a starter here in the anime kind of angers me. Especially when Ash points out that it's what he'll look like when he'll evolve, to bad he never will. I think Pokemon Sumo Wrestling was an obvious random idea for us to have for episode since we've already had pokemon boxing, battling, racing and stage show. I've never seen Sumo Wrestling before but here it's, just really weird. I think this episode was pretty good since it did seem to handle the Sumo Battles really well.

4/5

EP197 The Poke-Spokes Person - David Brimmer was a pretty unique voice actor for 4kids, not only does he sound like a real person he's also a great actor especially in this episode, well good compared to anyone else. This episode still really holds up because it seems to try to take itself seriously for once and we also have an interesting character of the day. Only problem is that I'm not a big fan of the cliched ending.

4/5

EP198 Control Freak - Well the streak of four good episodes has ended, of course we finally have another good episode. Just kidding this episode was pretty good despite being REALLY stupid, it also feels pretty out place making it feel like FAN FICTION. Of course though I'm not referring to this in a bad way, at least it feels original. Plus Brock actually does something in this episode, that's also something out of place but good. Also the moment of Crobat's evolution is really downsized in the dub due to 4Kids need to replace ALL DUB MUSIC. Speaking of which that was actually this entire episode, that crappy unfitting dub music that downplays an already struggling series.

3/5

EP199 The Art of Pokemon - This is an episode about vandalizing Smeargle that is all you need to know about this episode. And yet again a group of towns people are quick to judge our heroes which leads to pointless arguing. This episode feels like it was written by a six year old, it's to stupid to even be written by an adult! This episode relies way to much on the character the day who is really boring, I really don't have anything good to say about this episode.

1/5

EP200 Heartbrake of Brock - This is another episode devoted to a running gag. Misty seems to spend this episode WANTING Brock to leave but I guess it is in character for her to question Brock's motives. I also like how we get another reference to Jame's commitment issues. Other then that this was an out ordinary episode, in a good way of course.

4/5

EP201 Current Events - Out of all the starters of Ash to evolve, the writers just had to choose the most annoying and overly cute. Wouldn't be so mad but Chikorita line reserved more screen time then any other Johto Starter! Goes to show how focused the writers were on selling new toys too, when can almost promise Chikorita is the most unpopular Johto Starter. Ash working together with his Chikorita to get out of the factory was interesting but other then that nothing special about this episode, especially the Team Rocket attack.

3/5

EP202 Turning over a new Bayleef - Man this is an annoying episode. I'm still annoyed by the fact that Bayleef is the only one of Ash's pokemon to evolve and this entire episode is based around how annoying it is! I mean Ash yells at it once and all the sudden it's evil! There's tough love and there's just being a moron!!! And then this episode just lingers on and on and on. Team Rocket I'm also still waiting for you to die already so I can rest safely.

1/5

EP203 Doin' What come naturally -4kids grammer good zomggggg. We already saw pokemon street performing in one of the first few episodes of this region now we're seeing it again! But it's not that bad since we do get to see Natu getting featured pretty well. Problem is it's the same cliched plot of kid and mentor that's been in every episode so far! James run into the Magikarp salesmen yet again! Okay seriously it was funny the first two times but using the same animation and dialogue three times does not mean it's still funny! This time around that scene was also entirely pointless! Lady: Oh Machoke how did you get away? Here's a better question, how did you find them so late.
I like how after Team Rocket's balloon crashes into a daycare and the kids watch the Team Rocket battle the adult has the same expression as any other adult who watches this show. Another really boring uneventful episode dam.

1/5

EP204 The Big Balloon Blow Up - Oh boy pokemon air ballooning how exciting!! hah hah hah. At least we see Meowth in control in this episode trying to get stop them from cheating, that's nice. For a show called Pokemon we really don't even see a lot of pokemon. However the combination of the Team Rocket attacks and interactions between Meowth practically saved this episode.

3/5

EP205 Screen Actors Guilt - IT SMOOCHUM, SHE'S CUTE SO CUTE BUY HER PRODUCTS AND GIVE US MONEY MAHHAHAHAHAH.
Pokedex: Smoochum uses its lips to explore and examine with. WHAT? HOW? HUH? But man when Togepi actually does something it's so annoying! This plot is just so stupid in this episode. However most of the lines (that were clearly added by 4kids) were pretty funny. Overall this is another episode with way to many longated Team Rocket attacks.

2/5

EP206 Right on, Rhydon! - So the string of cringe worthy episodes continues. It's about a Rhydon who is in water, that's it. Other then that there's nothing notable about this episode at all. I also don't get it, it can't with stand water attacks but can tolerate living in water!?

1/5


EP207 Kecleon Caper! : It’s more than a full year before RS comes out and they’re already promoting them! A majority of the Johto Pokémon haven’t even appeared yet they’re giving horrible filler about one already! This is also the first episode with a boss fantasy while it’s less over the top it’s still good to see Team Rocket with better motives. This episode is based around playing hide and seek how exciting! At least Team Rocket is still pretty funny. My god Kecleon is annoying, if anything this makes me to not want to see anything that deals with that pokemon.
2/5
EP208 The Joy of Water Pokemon: This episode is basic proof of the effort the writers had when they wrote this series and how low on ideas they were on. It’s about a Nurse Joy who lives on a lake, hates water pokemon and wants to write a book, The End. I wouldn’t have so many issues with this but Nurse Joy is the basic definition of the term Mary-Sue, she’s perfect in every way, if you has an obstacle she can overcome come it, because she’s freaking perfect! I’m still yet to see an episode with Nurse Joy that doesn’t want me to get my head cut off. Yet in this episode she has a phobia of water pokemon for reason the writers won’t explain because that would require effort. Team Rocket is used as basic padding in an episode yet again.
1/5
EP209 Got Miltank!: This episode is just terrible, it feels like a rehash of Mewtwo Returns except with a healing a Miltank and no, Mewtwo, tension, the exposition, or Giovanni. This is facepalm worthy, for shame! I wouldn’t be so bothered but it came out less than a year before this episode!
1/5
EP210 Fight for the Light: The episode starts off by showing us that the gym leader is a leader girl, which shouldn’t be surprise to anyone who does play the game except for the writers who most likely don’t. Brock: Ash why are you using Pikachu against a Pokémon then isn’t effected by any of it’s attacks!!? THIS IS JOHTO PIKACHU MUST BE USED IN EVERY GYM BATTLE!!! Also Jasmine is another incredibly bland gym leader with the writers completely ignoring the actual personality she had in game that made her um MEMORABLE!? At last the Team Rocket attack in this episode didn’t feel entirely pointless, even though the assistant girl was really forgettable as a character but not totally bland.
3/5
EP211 Machoke, Machoke Man: Well we’re currently yet to see a good gym battle this season and since this is the last episode I think this episode should worth noting. First off Chuck is not a completely bland gym leader with personality of a piece of celery and actually seems to be based off. The Games!?? Although I don’t understand why they felt he should have a Machoke instead of a Primeape since we haven’t seen one since Ash’s ironically. Dan Green’s performance as Chuck in this episode is also really weird, it’s not bad but also not good. Oh man Pikachu has now been used in every gym battle, seriously what the hell!? Why can’t they use different Pokémon GOD? Oh well at least he goes down fast. Other then that the second half of this battle is pretty good despite being mildly short. How ironic that the most memorable gym leader has the most forgettable episode. Also Jasmine shouldn't be a gym leader is she's going to be so easily distracted by a freaking Ampharos!

3/5


Mewtwo Returns    
Not many people seem to not be aware that we kind of had a direct sequel to the first movie, Mewtwo Returns. First off at least this movie gives us, (a some what vague) explanation unlike the first movie. This oddly in wide screen while 4Kids actually cropped all of there dubbed movies, weird. It also seems that as the time Mewtwo has been away he has been spending his time, staring at the sun thinking emo thoughts to himself. This movie kind of seems to retcon the character development from the first movie but it might have been because Mewtwo's was done in the last minute of the movie.  Giovanni also seems pretty downplayed in his first time role as a villain. I'm going to recapture you Mewtwo so I can take over the world then......? He already captured Mewtwo and did very little I don't see what difference this makes. I know a lot fans will disagree with me on this one but I really did not care for this special, it tries to through in so many themes at once, environmentalism,  loneliness, remembrance it just becomes a convoluted mess. Ash and his friends spend the entire second and third act doing absolutely nothing in fact this more of a Team Rocket movie then Ash and Pikachu movie. 

3/5

Celebi The Voice of the Forrest    

This is the first movie were we get a world of pokemon intro, I'm guessing it's because people complain about going into these movies without knowing anything, which is great because it's an excuse for them to show off awesome effects in later movies. I find it strange how the intro in this movie doesn't show any Gen II pokemon and oddly enough show Porygon. I hate the fact that Sammy has the same raspy boy voice 4kids gives to every 10 year old. Something worth noting, the animation in this movie is easily top notch! It's actually really good. The evil in this film creates a pokemon that not only can catch any pokemon but can increase it's power to the highest level and make it evil! Just roll with it! Man this feels really padded out with random drawn out moments of Ash and friends following the pokemon then swimming in the lake. It doesn't bother me to much since it gives the movie a chance to show off its flashy effects. Most of it is used for foreshadowing later on but leaves little impact. I must admit the I do like the relationship between Sammy and Ash in this movie and how Sammy is worried if he can return to the past.
Sammy: Look at all the Butterfree
Ash: I hope you'll be free soon Sam, free to go back in time.
:shock: That pun, my god! :shock:
After we get about 20 minutes of basic pudding comes out of nowhere and catches Celebi. Are you kidding me? We couldn't get any real battle, I mean just like that! As much as an under developed villain the Masked Murroder is he's really memorable for being well evil. Yet again we're having a cramming of themes into this movie during the last minute. However the stuff with evil Celebi is pretty awesome. The stuff with Celebi being freed from evil and it's pokeball exploding. No, just no. Wait this is a Japanese anime so we still need to break a few hearts before this movie ends! Now Celebi is just out of energy! Actually I admit it, seeing the last moments with Celebi was pretty sad. Seeing it come back to life was a really beautiful moment. So Sammy was Oak all along, then why didn't Prof Oak add all the Johto pokemon he saw in the region in his pokedex, in fact this opens a lot of plot whole to the series. Oh well while this was pretty flawd plot wise it's not to bad, it should have been a lot longer though.

3/5



Full Review    
 So that was Johto League Champions and "suprise" it's just as bad as I made it out to be. Not much has changed quality wise except while Season 3 had some episodes that surprised me episodes this season didn't surprise me do to there original plots or just plain goofyness. But what makes this season worse then the previous one? Well it's 4Kids fault, because let's face it we already have poor overall storytelling and animation the only thing this show had going for it was it's high quality music score which 4kids decided to cut in half and make moments with the original more scarce toning down the importance of the moment with the low budget music. As if that wasn't bad enough the voice acting is also brought down to an incredibly low quality with nearly all of the voice actors just sounding either bored or no idea who they are voicing. Also this may be a nitpick but 4kids decides to instead this season use there own pokemon for whose that pokemon, leaving hints of who the pokemon is which left little to the imagination. The point of whose that pokemon was to identify the main pokemon for the episode not something for kids to guess on! Man 4kids just really can't get anything right. On final note there really was nothing good to come out of this season, no capture, no releases, and one evolution of a pokemon I think people didn't want to see evolve put that with a collection of horrible gym battles and you've got a recipe for crap!

1/5



4 To Watch
Air Time
The Wayward Wobbefett
Sick Days
The Poke-Spokemen

Dead4life March 8, 2012 07:37:43 AM

god help you mag god help you

Quadcentruo March 8, 2012 11:29:53 AM

I'm really glad you're doing this Mag. You know why? Because someone needs to tell people who loved the anime as a child it isn't as great as nostalgia is telling them. Nostalgia makes people bias.

IDischarge March 8, 2012 12:01:46 PM

I love this thread.
I remember watching all these episodes when they came out.
And Mag, all the reviews you are putting in, 5/5 :)

SolarYoshi March 9, 2012 08:00:44 PM

I like the idea of watching all the episodes again. I did stop watching them after a while, since it was hard to keep up with them.

Magmaster12 March 10, 2012 04:01:44 PM

Thanks a lot guys I appreciate all the feedback, almost makes sitting through all these fillers worth it, who am I kidding it is!

Master Quest    

EP212 Around the Whirlpool: What we have here is a longated episode that's basically set up for the whirl cup which will only last 2 episodes. Most of it set up for what's to come and foreshadowing of a long and pointless arc were we get filler for filler. This episode was especially longated with every moment milking for time. Take your time being ready to be a gym leader again Jasmine it's not like it's your job or something.

1/5

EP213 Fly Me To The Moon: Wow, I think this might be one of the stupidest episodes ever. Aside from the bland character of the day and pokemon the entire premise is just incredibly stupid! I mean a Pidgey that flies though the planet's atmosphere into out space and doesn't burn up! It's so freaking stupid! Also if humans can't breathe at a certain altitude what the heck is the pidgey breathing? Why don't any them just burn up? Why can't we ever get death in this show over logic? I'm asking for to much but at least this episode got some tension built up through that. However Ash and his friends did nothing this entire episode!

2/5

EP214 Takin' It on the Chinchou: ZOMG CHINCHOU IS THE CUTEST POKEMON EVER IT'S CUTER THEN DUNSPARCE I MUST THROUGH ME MONEY AT IT. I think this was the intention of the writers when they were told to make an episode of this pokemon. I mean it's likely that the uglier the pokemon the more of a god it has to be treated so people will buy the products. It's another episode with a lot of padding so we can't be in Olivine as soon as possible. So even when this show does add tension it feels incredibly forced in lengthening the episode. If anything this episode makes me hate Chinchou.

1/5

EP215 The Corsola Caper - This episodes starts with a house with a little girl inside about to go into a whirlpool and our heroes stealing a motor boat in order to save them. And peoples main complaint about this show is that Ash doesn't age. Seriously why would anyone build a house on a bunch of Corsola!?The voice acting in this episode is so terrible, I've never heard it this bad before! Also why is the group helping them find the Corsola, what debt do they owe them!? Yes and leave it to Misty to catch one of the worst pokemon in the game. She also uses are lure ball on it even though she never caught it through fishing.

2/5

EP216 Mantine Overboard - Due to our heroes case of ADD they are late for a ship yet again and forced to go on an even more boring of an adventure. I like the fact that this girl gives the twerps a ride on her boat DESPITE NOT KNOWING THEM AT ALL. I have to admit though Team Rocket did get a good laugh out of me in this episode. In fact they did a pretty good job at building tension making this episode pretty interesting.

3/5

EP217 Octillery The Outcast! -
Meowth: When Boss sees all that cash he'll respect us in a flash
Team Rocket: Let's get the stash!
Hey I thought only PUSA could give Team Rocket bad puns.
Why is it that pokemon only evolve if the character of the day wants them to but we never see any of Ash's Pokemon evolve, specifically this season!
Oh man the beginning of this tourney is just terrible, it's all just OHKOs because instead we need to get focus on the character of the day and his own problem because this junk is the only thing the writers can write about! Also why are more people participating in this then the pokemon league!?
Seriously they can't stretch out this episode with a long battle just a lame story about an outcast octillery! It's so stupid! No wonder why the writers rely on Team Rocket so much, nothing happens in this episode! It took 14 minutes into an episode for Team Rocket to do something, must be a new record. Overall a pretty meh episode.

2/5

EP218 Dueling Heroes - So we finally get a whirl cup with all the build it most be great right? right? First, Kingler gets its first battle since the Indigo League
this is notable because we'll probably never see it in battle. The battle between Ash's Totodile and Kingdra starts off pretty good, showing us some moves never used in the anime but its ending is so stupid. He bites down on Kingdra's mouth when it uses hydro pump and expands! There's this moment with Misty about her saying how happy she is about being part of the whirl cup but it's such a short moment of actual development it just feels out of place! Her battle with a Qwilfish is also pretty poorly done, Misty basically is unable to land and attack for the entire battle and when she finally does she wins! And we end up seeing Ash vs Misty early, but I'll talk about this next episode.

3/5

EP219 The Perfect Match - After seeing only match both our main characters are pitied against each other, and how does it go down? Terribly, duh. First why did the writers feel they needed to end this so quickly? I mean they really had better ideas then making them go further? Really this battle is on the level of the battle between Ash and Ritchie, it is just plain poorly done. I mean this is an important battle for Misty and she wins with Psyduck!? :headbang: I mean Ash has completely forgotten what gives Psyduck it's power! For shame writers, for shame. And Misty's loss. WHY? As if this tourney wasn't pointless enough we can't have a real achievement or character development for her? This is her last season and a perfect way to show how Misty has grown as a character, they already planned to replace Misty at this time but nnnnnnnnooooooooooooooc instead she gets her butt kicked against someone who didn't even come close to winning! There was no point in Misty loosing and no point in this poorly done filler arc! While Ash loosing the pokemon league allows the series to move on without making him seem to over powered there is no point for Misty to loose! Trinity is such a bland character. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY? WHY DO NEED A TEAM ROCKET ATTACK! Overall this episode was a painful watch.

1/5

EP220 Pant it now Diglett Later - What's worse then the Whirl Cup? MORE FILLER! The amounts of stupidity is just to much for me to overall comprehend. The plot is all over the place, I have no idea what I can say about this episode aside the fact it's just well weird. I don't even think this episode was put onto paper, it was all just improvised! The episode makes Kanto plots look perfect by comparison!

2/5

EP221 Hi Ho Silver Away - Honestly, why do our characters care about these two characters who are in love, in fact why should I care!? Why does this episode exist it's so freaking pointless even as a pokemon episode!? The group does absolutely nothing this entire episode! This has got to be the most pointless episode of pokemon ever! Oh and Ritchie's Sparky reappears, as if I didn't like this episode enough.

0/5

EP222 The Mystery is History - You know, this show has a long history of knowing how to anger me, but I think this might top it. We get an arc about the legendary pokemon Lugia and who do we get? We get the bland one sided character that no one likes, except for maybe the people that think they're a couple, Richie. Also 4kids is really inconsistent with the name of this island of the day because they keep switching back and forth forth between the Japanese name. This entire set is just basic filler and set up for the next 2 episodes but this episode still feels really pointless. Also, why is Richie here? We never get an explanation for why he's in Johto and he doesn't really do anything different at all. Ash STOP FREAKING CALLING OUT BAYLEEF YOU HAVE OTHER POKEMON. I'd appreciate it more if he just used a less annoying pokemon more often, like anyone else on his team besides Pikachu or Bayleef!

2/5

EP223 A Parent Trapped - The month is almost over and so far I've watched only 5 episodes of the anime, out of the first 200 episodes never before have I felt less motivated to continue my marathon, because it's just so terrible. So I apologize I just wish it was easier for me to get through this. The episode just starts off with our heroes wondering how they'll get Silver back when just like that the parent Lugia pops up! Yep, now if only they'd wish for Arceus to show up to kill them all so this series will end. Not to mention the animation they have for Lugia is TERRIBLE you tell they only drew him with a few frames in mind. Most of it is obviously recycled from the second movie which is stupid because it's not like Lugia is the hardest pokemon to draw. Man the blandness level of all the character is a 10/10 I mean MY GOD everyone, Richie and the other two arc of the day characters. Not complaining to much though since every character we've had in Johto has been incredibly one sided but they make Richie seem like the most dimensional character! Only thanks writers for not including Misty and Brock in this episode over Ritchie, because why should we have those compelling characters when we can have a bland Ash clone? It's just so out of character for them to stay behind and there's no reason for it. The moments with Lugia searching for it's son was so freaking pointless and done just to stretch out this episode, what a surprise more padding! Not that the random scenes we have with Team Rocket and Prof Namba have any fluid to them either. My god this episode stretches itself out so freaking much! come on I'm waiting 5 minutes for something to actually happen. A SIMPLE EPISODE OF DRAGON BALL Z HAS LESS PADDING THEN THIS!!!! Surprise! Lugia is captured, what a moron. We also just cut to the twerps in a cage at the end not that it mattered if we actually saw that!!!

1/5

EP224 A Promise is a Promise - Well for starters at least this episode seems to have some good tension to it. Okay Namba do you really need to stay concentrated to put that one headband on Pikachu, it doesn't look that hard. It's all worth it to see Ash headbutt Prof Namba then smashing the machine with a bat! Wait. Why do they actually use pokemon to fight in this show again? Pretty awesome but this was set out way to easily. Also are Butch and Cassidy the only characters in this base that use pokemon? And there headbands explode just like that!!? This show has gone from to little of nothing to to much of something! Now the battle with Namba's Electabuzz is lingering on incredibly. Not to mention it's terrible. While this is the last time Ash will meet up with Richie sadly this is the last time we'll see him.

1/5

So that was the Whirl Islands Arc, and it was just plain AWFUL. I am just astonished out how bad this show is at trying to carrying an overall plot but then messing it up so easily, it's not hard this goes to show how horrible Johto is even without fillers! There were so many missed opportunity and not to mention the animation is at an incredibly low quality! So yeah for shame makers of this show for shame.

EP225 Throwing in the Noctowl - Ours heroes who seem to have no sense of time or scheduling are yet again trapped on an island without a way to the next island. To this episode's credit the character of the day in this episode is actually. Interesting? Man it feels so refreshing to have a character of the day that isn't totally lop sided. Other then there's just something about this episode I didn't like it might because I've sat through so many bad episodes I'm not in a good mood but darn it! Also Jigglypuff thanks for being shallow and stupid enough to out right almost killing our protagonists! Best episode of the season so far, which isn't saying a whole lot.

4/5

EP226 Nerves of Steelix - The first third of this episode is dedicated to a Team Rocket battle, but I'm not complaining to much since this does showcase Jasmine's Steelix and
she only has 2 pokemon.
Jasmine: Go Magnemite
Ash: Go Pikachu
Me: ASH YOU HAVE HAVE OTHER POKEMON THEN PIKACHU THAT CAN ACTUALLY ATTACK MAGNEMITE YOU ARE SO STUPID YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BREATHE. This is the sixth gym battle in a row were he's using Pikachu he has other pokemon gawd! Then he takes out the Magnemite in less then a minute! Steelix doesn't end up effecting Steelix, maybe you should have thought twice about the fact that Steelix is a ground type before sending him out. In fact why don't you just try to set off the sprinklers like you did against Onix! Speaking of which why doesn't he send out Totodile instead, did the writers even know that Steelix is a Steel/Ground type? Overall this battle was pretty rushed and poorly done at the same time, Steelix gets all the hits until last minute were Cyndaquil hits last minute and OHKOs it.

2/5

EP227 Bulbasaur the Ambassador - The group runs into this random guy and tells them he's headed to Ekriteak City and gives them a ride.
Moral: Always trust strangers. As much Bulbasaur did absolutely nothing whole thing of Bulbasaur being an ambassador to pokemon visiting Oaks ranch is just stupid it makes no sense at all why he'd be the only one pokemon who can help or why all these pokemon can't just settle there differences or even move, NO they must be jerks and refuse to move because problem is never bad in the wild. Not like they can settle there differences on there own. Also we can't understand anything Bulbasaur is saying to them to get them to get along, just stupid or bad writing you decide. Bulbasaur just uses Solar Beam and they get along. :jchan: Then this episode just lingers on like crazy with Bulbasaur helping out random pokemon and Tracy and Oak just standing on the side doing nothing like a bunch of morons they are. Then the moment were Bulbasaur gets with by a giant boulder and we get a bad music played to random clips with Bulbasaur. WOW Never before have I seen such a random excuse for a bad AMV. In fact I can imagine there are probably some kids watching this that now think he's dead because of this random cut. Look if you're going to have a montage of all the moments with a pokemon you can't just do it at random moment in the episode out of no where because then it's forced and contrived. This episode has to be one of the most anticlimactic good byes for Ash.

1/5

EP228 Espeon Not Included -
Brock: Your family now has all the evolution of Eevee.
Oh Brock if only you knew.
A large portion of this episode is dedicated to Team Rocket dressed in Kimonos just well being but it is Team Rocket so it is pretty funny but it gets old pretty fast. We also get this huge pointless recap of the Whirl Islands arc, it happened less then 5 episodes ago why did we need a recap? Jessie is mad that they don't have an Espeon oh Jessie if only didn't suddenly become so OCD and remember other then the fact you said in the original series there were only three. I do like how they show Sakura has come of age off screen and grown as a character. Problem is though this episode lingers on a lot. I guess the whole return of Sakura was mandatory and I should give this episode credit for not feeling forced and keeping my attention. I really do wish Sakura would join the cast though.

3/5

EP229 For Ho-oh The Bells Toll - Once again our plot is set into action by Team Rocket because apparently they're the only characters in this universe to do something major to get the plot going. Seriously for once can we NOT be the one to get the plot going? I love the irony of Suicune getting mad at Ash over the fact that he hasn't seen Suicune but Ash has. This episode has a lot of tension built around it from the pokemon attacking but it doesn't a whole lot of sense. I mean all because a bell broke all pokemon want to just take over the world? Early on in the series this would have worked with the whole, if only pokemon and humans can coincide message being shot around a lot but now it seems really forced. I guess it might not be to forced though since they're referencing the first episode with it by throwing in Ho-oh. I honestly don't get why we have this random seen of Eusine trying to capture Suicune COMPLETELY FORGETTING THE POINT OF THIS EPISODE. Suicune then just appears and everything is just back to normal. This episode is over loaded with a lot moments that almost come off as completely random despite making the characters more fleshed out this episode just felt a little pointless necause the whole humans and pokemon must live together is so forced in. Other fans will probably like this episode more then me but it just wasn't to enjoyable for me.
Also why could they have the whole pokemon and humans coinsiding thing return when it would have actually matter with Team Plasma and N? Oh wait its because they NEVER fallow through with anything when it actually matters!

3/1/2 /5

EP230 Extreme Pokemon - Well Gary Oak has now become a bland boring Gary Stu, hope you're happy writers. Also Ash is concerned about how people using pokemon who are hooked up to a leash and using them to skateboard and is more concerned about the pokemon! Are you kidding!? Ash as much as how many times Pikachu had tried killing you with Thundershock I don't think have a leash on them is that dangerous! Not that it matters since this ignored later on. Especially considering the fact he ends up using the smaller Bayleef. He also seems to get over his anger pretty quickly. I have to admit it is intriguing watching Ash do something else with a different goal in mind. I also like how we don't see Team Rocket until we're 8 minutes in. But oh man 4kids you nd your incredibly unfitting dub music, it's so unfitting! And then right in the middle of the freaking race after all the build all the focus gets put on yet another Team Rocket battle! Gee I wonder what will happen? The tension is just so incredibly high! NOT. Still this
is probably the best episode so far mainly because it barely featured Team Rocket but it's still not saying much.

4/5

EP231 An EGGciting Adventure - Amazing how I don't have much to say about an episode that's actually pretty good. I enjoyed how this episode gives us a change of pace by being a mystery, albeit a bad one but it's still a good change. The voice actress for Officer Jenny does a terrible job and the music is incredibly unfitting but it was still a pretty good episode.

4/5

EP232 Hatching a Plan - This episode is basically one boring Team Rocket scheme after another so I think it's pretty clear on how I feel about this episode.

0/5

EP233 Delibird Dues and Don'ts - Something strange about this episode is the fact that Team Rocket attacks in Football uniforms, considering this aired here in America the day before Super Bowl XXXVI this was probably planned. What is it with the anime and manga making Delibird all powerful? It also makes sense for them to be removed from Team Rocket after so long and failing so much. But why does Team Rocket need pension and a retirement plan and human resources? THEY'RE A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION WHAT FEAR DOES HE HAVE IF THEY GO ON STRIKE WHEN HE CAN JUST THROW THEM IN JAIL! Overall this episode still wasn't to bad.

4/5

EP234 Just Waiting on a Friend - In this episode Brock mention he had a Ninetails a while back, 4kids way to be just completely wrong yet again. This is yet another great episode, strange thing is so far the only episode that have been good don't even focus on pokemon that much in general. I liked how in this episode Brock does have a lot of personality and I also enjoyed Ash and Misty doing stuff all within and the mystery if Ninetails. To bad this story could be done with just about any show. Also did we really need a Team Rocket attack in this episode!! At least it's sped up.

4/5

EP235 A Tyrogue Full of Trouble - Well back to terrible fillers. Dan Green in this episode puts as little effort as possible putting life into our character of the day not helping how he's already kind of a boring character but still pretty fun.

3/5

EP236 Xatu the Future - Wow the people in this town are REALLY stupid, but yet again I'm questioning the logic of people in a show where people force little monsters to fight each other and stuff them in small balls. This episode also gives us this random Family Guy esque Manatee gag to show us Jessie was a weather reporter at one point. What does this have to deal with anything? nothing just 10 seconds of sheer randomness. Still pretty funny neither-less. The episode's morral isn't to bad and it doesn't even fill put in last minute or overly done.

4/5

EP237 Talkin Bout an Evolution - GASP For once the writers are actually following something from the game! To bad they're way to late for the entire plot with the Lake of Rage to make sense. Speaking of which the whole stuff about the Radio Waves gets used to make the pokemon weaker makes no sense but also very little. The whole idea is also forgotten about really quickly. I do like how they have the Persian statues in the secret base like in the games, that was a nice send off.
Science Man: Together we will make breakthroughs in Pokenistic Science. Yes you so didn't totally did not JUST come up with that word. Also why they heck are they sending out rookies to do the main job when there track record is 0-???.

3/5

EP238 Rage of Innocence - Like the morons they are Team Rocket you again let's our heroes go free, I don't really get why when the pokemon are already weakened and Lance shows up a few minutes later to help them. What is up with how in the middle of this episode Ash just seems to try and befriend Gyarados to stop it from raging? Oh my god. Pryce has the worst voice I've ever heard and it's so unfitting! it sounds like a raspier version Gary! Well at least this episode had some real tension and excitement other then that this one was pretty stupid.

2/5

EP239 Cold as Pryce - Team Rocket do you have to narrate this entire episode for blind people, they spend the first half of this episode pointing everything else. Ash using his Phanpy against Dewgong, that's just incredibly stupid. I do like how Pryce is a well developed and has his own back story. Something I don't get is that the moral is weak. If a close friend betrays you, you shouldn't act cold and harsh to others because the whole time they've trying to help you and real friendships do go on forever. This is seriously a terrible moral for kids, writers!

3/5

EP240 Nice Pryce Baby - Man this has to be one of the worst pun-titles of them all. BECAUSE ALL KIDS IN 2002 WERE LISTENING TO VANILLA ICE. This really shows how 4kids knows so little of there general audience. When Pryce sends out Dewgong he sends out Cyndaquil and for the first time ever he doesn't send out Pikachu! This is another poorly done pokemon gym battle with.
Ash and the gym leader's attacks not hitting
Gym leader comes up with a strategy
Ash counters it resulting in a OHKO
Gym Leader OHKOs with his next pokemon
Ash sends out Pikachu
The Anime completely forgets typing
However as the battle of Piloswine vs Pikachu progresses it does get better.

3/5

EP241 Whichever Way the Wind Blows - Episodes they have after a gym battle are always incredibly terrible. Just another case of WSIGAD. I like the fact how this anime always goes out of the way to tell us wrong forced evolution is such as with Pikachu but these just evolve naturally. Also way for the group to do absolutely nothing in this episode, they're just there do nothing. Honest to god though, why the heck are they fighting in the first place? Are Pokemon just secretly racist!? I mean these pokemon are fighting
but then what? Even Team Rocket's role in this episode is completely pointless and unneeded.
Misty: Oh what should we do? We can't just stand here and let them fight!
Brock: Actually that's exactly what we have to do Misty.
Man: Brock is right if we need them to stop fighting we need for them to understand in the end it won't get them anywhere.

WELL NO S***. IF WAS THAT IMPORTANT TO NOT DO ANYTHING WHY TRY INTERFERRING IN THE FIRST PLACE I WASTED 22 MINUTES OF MY LIFE I'LL NEVER GET BACK ALL BECAUSE YOU COMPLETELY LACK UNDERSTANDING.

0/5

EP242 Hot Matches - Well it's been about 50 episodes since the last time we've had a hot spring scene so of course we get yet another one in this episode. After about 30 episodes of Misty doing absolutely nothing it's very refreshing for her to actually be doing anything. It does a good job of showing off Misty as an individual rather battle partner #2. That and fire is my favorite elemental type. The character of the day also isn't bad either, like kind of interesting. Other then that nothing about this episode really stands out.

3/5

EP243 A Great Change in Pokemon Magic - This episode was pretty enjoyable, I like how there's a focus and the character of the day us also really fun. There's two things I don't get. Why do they randomly bring up the whole pokemon and humans must coincide thing again? Why did they turn Ash into Pikachu then change him back in the next episode? Seriously this is an awesome idea for an episode, I think the writers are just trolling me now. :(

4/5

EP244 As Clear as Crystal - Episodes starts with a disguised Team Rocket putting Pikachu into a container. Yep Ash it's not like other people have tried stealing Pikachu by doing that. Overall besides the appearance of Zapdos there's nothing special about this episode, just another one with a bunch of drawn out Team Rocket attacks.

2/5

EP245 Same Old Song and Dance - Wow the writers of this show have now somehow made me hate Jigglybuff even more and didn't even think it was possible. Oh man the stage show is just so annoying! I guess I shouldn't be so suprised since the people who did this are the same people behind pokemon live. I can understand like really little kids enjoying this but grown men!? This isn't like MLP. I do enjoy the fact that Team Rocket does there song again. This episode is also the English debut of the song Takeshi's Paradise and it is awesome! I noticed this on a rewatch but when Jigglypuff is digging through the gangs bags she finds a handkerchief in Misty's and bread in Brock's FORESHADOWING.

3/5

EP246 Enlighten Up - In this episode Ash and his friends encounter a cult, no lie. The moment in this episode where the group tries to find enlightenment as we look into there heads was very amusing. Especially considering how one sided the characters in the show have been lately. Actually this episode had a lot of good moments in it and used all of the character to there full potential instead of just making constant Team Rocket attacks. If only more fillers were like this.

4/5

EP247 Will the real Prof. Oak please stand up? - So 4Kids now thinks kids listen to Eminem, they're probably setting up the bar to high it's still better then making a Vanilla Ice reference. This is another episode that focuses on Team Rocket why to much and gets pretty boring fast. It just focuses on one joke. Get it because Jessie and James look like Oak and DJ Mary. Seems pretty ridiculous that they would leave the contest of who the real Prof is to just three questions! I mean honestly they could just ask either Prof for some ID or anything like that? What a stupid plot.

2/5

EP248 Wish upon a Star Ship - I'm starting to think they just wrote these filler episodes so they can debut the rest of the Johto pokemon one at a time again, because yeah they weren't doing it at a slow enough pace already. Not that this episode isn't bad though. The pokemon mystery club actually is a pretty funny group. I like how they reference the previous invading Clefairy episode, you'd think they'd learn how to properly fly there space ship. Man Team Rocket's role in this episode was so freaking unneeded. We also get a brief montage of all the three moments Phanpy has had with Clefairy because you know we don't remember what happened in the last 20 minutes.
4/5

EP249 Outrageous Fortunes - Someone forgot to tell the animators that Misty is supposed to be the same age as Ash because in this episode she looks more like she's 20. It's not helped by the fact in this episode she looks like she's a foot taller then Ash. I like how Team Rocket's scheme is thought out in this episode and less straight forward.
Ash wants to help find the stolen Poliwrath by using Noctowl but can't because he was still at the Pokemon Center. Gee it's not like another character like Brock owns a flying type like Crobat! Seriously this is a prime example of how Brock is neglected way to much for the writers to just forget about what pokemon he uses. Not that it matters since they find Team Rocket rather quickly. And now the device Team Rocket was using to control Poliwrath lands on Jessie and everything fit perfectly, not only that but Meowth now has the controls to control her as a pokemon. Why do I get the feeling someone with a bizarre fetish wrote a fanfic about this. You'd think they'd try to put the machine on another pokemon but nope, Meowth has to fulfill his fantasy! As much as I am complaining this is still pretty funny.

4/5

EP250 One trick Phony - Once again the Team Rocket plot is less straight forward and I enjoy it for it. The battles in this episode are pretty good too. Problem is it kind of gets boring fast. I enjoy that they kept a lot of the original music in this episode which is pretty rare for the series at this point

3/5

EP251 I Politoad you So - Man what a boring episode, it's hard to make you feel emotion for a character of a day when you honestly don't care about them until last minute.

2/5

EP252 The Ice Cave - Ah the final episode to get banned by the wrath of 4kids. Despite being covered in water Pikachu is still able to use thunderbolt on Team Rocket, whatever. For an episode banned for featuring Jynx the pokemon isn't focused that much. This episode isn't to bad since we have some pretty funny moments with Brock and Team Rocket I think it's quite a shame this episode got banned.

3/5

EP253 Beauty is Skin Deep - Clair's first appearance is in this episode and while it is interesting to learn about Dragon pokemon stuff,Clair's voice actress is just plain awful. Although it's not helped by the fact that like all other Johto gym leaders she is dull! The way Clair is protecting Dratini without it being shown to evolve just makes Clair come off as a moron. I hate the ending to the episode where we get a random light dragon that goes up into a star. No sense or explanation at all. Man this episode was drawn out way to much an nothing seems to happen.

2/5

EP254 Fangs For Nothin' -
Brock: Wouldn't you know the battle for his final badge would turn out to be his most difficult one
Me: ...
So far this battle has had more narration in it then actual battling. The rest battle is the same way until *suprise* Clair needs to stop Team Rocket because this town with valuable treasures only has one strong trainer!?
Brock: Wow I can't see a thing
Me: Open your eyes then!
And then the rest of the episode is the same old boring Team Rocket antics.

2/5

EP255 Great Bowls of Fire – Of course the obvious Charizard silhouette at the end of the last episode was Ash’s Charizard, I never would have guessed! It’s like Lisa and Clair are competing to see how can do the worst voice acting. I like the fact that despite how Charla is in love with Charizard there are still arguments over its gender, I blame fanfic writers. Oh boy more pointless mentions of Pokemon and People must live in peace. Even though the move Dragonite is using is obviously Outrage based off the fact it won’t stop attacking is confused. Nice to know after five years you still don’t do your research 4kids. Oh man the battle with Dragonite is really awesome but also pretty sad at the same time. My only problem with this is how off it feels for Team Rocket’s plan to go on this long for it to get annoying. But it’s nice to see Clair be less one sided and show her being smart.

4/5

EP256 Eight Aight Enough – The battle in this episode is just awesome.
Probably the best gym battle in Johto easily although that’s not saying much but it is legitly good. Even though this is the eight gym battle in a row to use Pikachu!!

5/5

EP257 Why Why Not? - I can imagine this episode had a lot building up to it. Introducing new Pocket Monster for Pokemon Advance!!!! ZOMG. Find it strange that this episode probably had more build up then the Kecleon one. Still Whynaut is still pretty funny in this episode. The flashbacks for the gym badges in this episode are unnecessary and bring back bad memories for me like it was only done to stretch out the episode, it’s really pointless for them to just flashback randomly. Once again Brock has another opportunity to use his Crobat and doesn’t use it again, what a jerk! I mean we see creepy images of Clair creepily flying around on her Dragonair.

4/5

EP258 Just Add Water – Nnnnnnooooooo this is the last episode of the main anime to focus on Misty :cry: . I do find it funny how despite this it’s still refreshing to see an episode focused on Misty. Seeing Brock expecting female synchronized swimmers was pretty funny. Seriously this is probably Brock’s most perverted moment. The guy wants to have a gym just like the Cerulean Gym. So he basically wants to only focus on putting on shows and handing out all their badges without battling. Seriously why are Ash and friends having this underwater battle in their regular clothing!?! It’s not like they haven’t established having swimwear. Not only that but there’s just able to stand underwater. Trivia note, this is Goldeen’s first real battle, took only 257 episodes. The battles in this episode were pretty good but Team Rockets annoying pointless attacks are pointless and annoying.

3/5

EP259 Lapras of Luxury – How is it that Ash’s Lapras has aged but Ash hasn’t? I do like how we get a revisit from an older pokemon like Lapras, it’s pretty well thought out. Ash refers to Ice Beam as Cold Beam despite how commonly 4kids is correct is about this move. After nearly 50 episodes of absense the writers finally seem to remember Brock has a Crobat which he wants to send out for specified reason.

3/5

EP260 Hatch Me If You Can - So the egg Ash & Friends received in the last episode has now hatched but is sick. As if that isn't bad enough the power in the pokemon center is knocked out and the generator breaks. Wow I had no idea Team Rocket wasn't the only one who could create problems in this show! Oh wait no Team Rocket is responsible for EVERYTHING that goes wrong in this show! Of course the group falls for Jessie as Nurse Joy despite not be able to move her lips when talking because of a mask! I like the fact that when Brock reasons that it's a phony Nurse Joy we doesn't bring that fact up either! I thought Team Rocket was in great debit how the heck the affording all these machines? Oh screw it, why would they need to start being consistent now. This episode was okay, it attempts to flesh out Ash's character more but it ends up failing by just showing characteristics already established in previous episodes. The appearance of Ash's mother is also random.

3/5

EP261 Entei at your own risk - Well it appears Larvitar is still having trouble around humans, this pretty good because it leads to good developmental and interactions between characters. It also feels like a relatable situation I can see a lot of younger kids relating to, so points for that. Then all of a sudden an angry Ursaring shows, my guess he's mad about the animation budget because this entirely random scene clearly reuses animation from an earlier episode! CONTINUITY! I don't get it, rock types aren't fond of hot springs but fire types are!? The plan Ash has to brake through the truck is actually pretty well thought out. Of course Ash has a battle with a ghost type and it's even pointed out, now because of that you'd think Normal type moves wouldn't work, after all it's like the only thing the writers have been consistent about. hah. And Brock ends up saving the day by giving us the most random evolution in the series. Hey it's two Johto pokemon making debut in one episode so I have no complaints! Seeing the character of the day challenge Entei was also a high point of this episode.

4/5

EP262 A Crowning Achievement - I wrote this long review of this episode but of course I'm moron who forgot to save. This is another episode where Ash and Friends do nothing.

2/5

EP263 Here's looking at You Elekid - Casey returns in yet another episode, only 5 minutes in and her baseball puns are giving me a terrible headache. Once the group runs into Casey they seem to completely forget about Larvitar who has been kidnapped. This episode probably freature Meowth worst fantasy about capturing a pokemon but at least there's now a motivation. This episode then goes in a completely different direction and we have James trade away his Victrebelle, this entire sub plot is really funny especially how they try to portray it in a serous light. Team Rocket using Sweet Scent is also a good idea coming from Team Rocket. In a way this episode is good because it had a lot to it, in fact all most to much, it really felt like these were originally written as two separate episodes then they combined both of them and made this.

4/5

EP264 You're a Star Larvitar - YES THIS THE DEBUT OF MAGBY THIS THE BEST EPISODE EVER!!! I like how this episode portray evolution in a positive light for once. It also brings up the idea of Ash trying to evolve Cyndaquil. But does he? Nope. We have to wait about 8 years. It's also really refreshing seeing Ash actually prepare for a conference by showing him train. I like how in this episode Ash and Larvitar make an actual well thought out plan to take down Team Rocket. And of course at the end of the episode Ash still doesn't believe in evolving his pokemon because he believes they have heart. Because that worked out so well for Ma-Ti.

4/5

EP265 Address Unown - This episode starts off normal, the group find an injured pokemon of the day, they heal it and Team Rocket shows up in a comical fashion. Only catch is half way it falls into OMG what is this what happened to my regular routine moment! When everyone is shown to just disappear. I like how Brock is shown to know exactly where they are so quickly. He spends this entire episode explaining everything likes he's suddenly a total genius. This episode is also kind of a mind f***. This episode also tries to be symbolic by using physiology, honestly never thought I'd being saying that about pokemon. Looking back I can just see a whole bunch of little kids watching this and just thinking to themselves wut. This is a great episode for analyzing.

5/5

EP266 Mother of All Battles - In this episode we get the big reveal of who were the people who stole Larvitar's egg and it was! Joey Wheeler!!!! Man I hate when 4kids actors don't try to distinguish there voices. Brock already knows about the Pokemon Preserve Ranger, totally not a creepy at all Brock. This episode also seems to have a lot of bad rhymes in it, including fart jokes and I have no idea if its 4kids and or just overall bad writing. This leads to some of the worst dialogue ever including fart jokes. Some of Brock's antics with the Ranger were pretty funny. I have to admit it was pretty sad to see Larvitar go, but I'm to see him back with his mother.

4/5

EP267 Pop Goes the Sneasal - In this episode we get the introduction of Richie Harrison. Who is just as bland as Richie but doesn't have "Ash Qualities" like him. We also get a boring pointless back story on the Ho-oh, seriously, I'm guessing now that this will be an excuse by the writers for Team Rocket to steal it, I'm calling it now. It also makes no freaking why a Sneasal would care so much about the flame in the first place or why a Machoke and Machop would want to team up with it. Serously what a logic fail. Oh man the animation in this episode is really bad. To anyone who used Sneasal in Gen II they should know that they pokemon is freaking weak but here it's really strong. Even though the established it as being strong it never actually did a whole lot of battling.

2/5

EP268 A Claim to Flame - This episode starts off by showing us how perfect Gary is, he already has his paperwork filled out, his pokemon planned, and is now just chilling and greets Ash politely. That's him perfect Gary. No wait he's actually still a jerk to him because of 4kids. Either way I'm still mad. Mr.Goodshow as head of the pokemon league thing sees at his duty to hand out balloons to the fans and introduce himself. Totally nothing creepy about an old man with a backwards baseball hat handing out balloons no sirree. I like how they show screenings in this episode, it makes sense with the amount of opponents that could be in this conference. For whatever reason Brock starts mentioning levels in this episode like a lot. The method Ash uses to take down Furret is pretty cheap but whatever it's pretty good aside from the fact the pokemon goes down so quickly. This episode has a really good moment between Ash and Gary without having Gary be a total jerk to him. It also portrays in a more interesting light. We also can't go one episode without Team Rocket doing anything to effect the plot so of course out of ALL the trainers they decide to kidnap Ash of course because it's not like he has any peers to draw his attention from. This really angers me because it just gives annoying flashbacks to how the kidnapped Ash before the Richie battle. I have a feeling they put this in as a back up plan in case they released RS to early. Of course they had to have Ash bring in the flame AGAIN, it's not like Gary is the one that caught it. Amazing how much good and bad stuff this episode has.

4/5

EP269 Love, Pokemon Style - Less then 3 minutes into this episode we already have Team Rocket appear!!! THIS A TOURNAMENT WE ALREADY HAVE TENSION FROM IT THE LAST THING WE NEED IS TEAM ROCKET NOW!!! Oh well the chase is still entertaining and makes Macy more of an interesting character, seriously she's one of my favorites now. I freaking wish they'd go into Misty's jealousy more though. I wonder why the writers were so reluctant for Ash to use his Kingler since 10 years later and still hasn't been seen in battle. The writers also seem to have remembered that Electric doesn't effect Ground and we get to see it use Earthquake, how awesome. It should be noted that this is the first time Phanpy has won a full on battle. The execution of Squirtle's battle was really good.

5/5

EP270 Tie One On - Whoa spoiler alert! The character of Jackson is kind of like an inside joke, if 4kids had half a brain and knew it was the same character in Legend of Thunder maybe just then he would be more amusing as a character. But nope 4kids don't know noting herpy derp. Then again it would have also been more interesting if they also included Marina and Jimmy in this tournament but they can't ever have male game characters either. I'm confused fighting isn't allowed but sparring is. This episode doesn't have a whole lot of tension because we know that if Ash looses this battle he'll just have to battle again and we know that won't happen. Still the battle is really good. 4kids nearly ruins the impact of this battle with there poor music. Also how the hell did Brock get Pikachu at the end of this battle when it was used by Ash?

4/5

EP271 The Ties that Bind - Finally after 5 years we finally get a full 6 on 6 battle, not only that but this is also the first battle in the series to use six pokemon. I freaking love the pre episode build we have for this episode and the build up and development we have for Ash's rivalry while at the same time showing us how far Ash has come as a character. Then Charizard appears in a way that in real life probably would have killed him instantly. The battle starts off feeling pretty rushed not that it feels poorly done.

5/5

EP272 Can't beat the Heat - The battle continues and it still feels pretty rushed. However the battle between Charizard and Blastioce ranks this as the best battle of the original series. Delibird also comes in to collect Team Rocket's money they made from the pokemon league and I guess this is how they paid off there debit since this is the last time the sub plot is brought up. This brings a good conclusion to the rivalry of Ash and Gary.

5/5

EP273 Playing with Fire - Another battle and this one is just as good as the previous one. The is also the last battle Totodile and Bayleaf have appeared in onscreen.

5/5

EP274 Johto Photo Finish - This is it Blaziken vs Charizard truely this is a battle worth noting. Wait the battle just ended in 15 WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!? Random filler DUH. Nah I'm just kidding, this is a good set up for Gary to decide become a researcher and I'm pretty this doesn't come out of no where completely. Also what do Team Rocket with there Bill Collectors? They attack there Bill Collectors with a giant mecha buildings! Wish I could do that.

4/5

EP275 Gotta Catch Ya Later - Nooooo not Misty!! SHE WILL RETURN SOMETIME. I'll go into my thoughts on Misty leaving and role in the show later though. As the group returns to Viridian City the PokeCenter now has a new Nurse Joy, I'm guessing the previous one took Ash's blame for blowing up the Pokemon Center in the second episode. Of course instead of having Team Rocket be an antagonist for Misty we have to have an annoying underdevolped villains slammed in. This is slammed out of no where but I really enjoy the interactions between the trio. I like how they make a call back to Ho-oh as a plot device to get the plot moving and have Ash go to Hoenn. Speaking which of course we get another Team Rocket battle in this episode. This still has good result with Ash climbing back up the pit fall with a fork and spoon.

4/5

EP276 Hoenn Alone - Oh man I am so freaking sick of the Team Rocket loves to eat running gag now, that leaves zero running gags left I like. Oh and once again Team Rocket kidnaps Pikachu because Ash can never put the thing on a leash. Clearly this episode is totally necessarily as the final episode of the original series. It's not like they could make any tributes to the last 275 episodes or anything no. We have to get an episode that tries to copy everything involving Ash. This then turns into annoying filler, not like they're needed. OH WAIT THEY AREN'T. Meowth is kind of needed to explain what Pikachu and the other pokemon are saying the entire episode. Well aside from the fact this is a contuated into the second part with Pikachu's illness it's uneeded.

1/5



Pokemon Heores    

I have to admit something, I've never seen this movie in one sitting because of my hatred of the edits that 4kids made to this movie for no reason and you know why? I freaking hate how thy dumbed this movie down, this movie has a lot of stuff that's not typically done in a pokemon movie and leaves it more intriguing but OH NO 4kids has to step and ruin it to make it another stupid pokemon movie. Wow 4kids somehow made the fifth opening even more bland by just repeating the same last lines over and over again and a guitar solo already in the song! how lazy. And so Latias decides to help Ash win this water race by cheating! :faec: I'd also like to point out that the background art they have for Alto Mare is really nice. Annie and Oakley aren't member of Team Rocket in the original version but I don't mind that to much since it makes them seem a lot less shallow as villains. My god the amount of 3 dimensional CGI turns they do in this movie is making me dizzy, it's like they're copying the matrix or something. 22 minutes in and it feels like half the movie has already been spent on Ash chasing after Latias. *yawn* Darn it these legendary eon pokemon really go down easily.
Oakley: I can control the whole world from here!
M Bison: Of Course!
I hope you're happy this movie is now resorting to me stealing jokes! In the original version she just wants to take over Alto Mare but whatever this doesn't make a whole lot of sense to begin with. So far Team Rocket has had more lines then Brock and Misty in this they're like nonexistent here. Yet this movie still seems to remember the fact Brock has a Crobat. While this movie is well paced, it's just overall to short leaving for a weak final battle. However I think the climax where Latias shows what Latios is seeing is one of the best moments for the series.

4/5



Character Analyzation    

Ash - Ash's role as a character was greatly reduced during Johto saga, but the funny thing is he got far more focus then any other season. Problem is he was left pretty one dimensional. The only trait he really seemed to show during Johto would be his caring and determined nature which was shown throughout whenever he bonded with a pokemon but that's just it. The best thing we got out of Johto was the explanation for why he's determined in the first place, to be better then Gary. It did show us though that Ash has become less rash though. Another thing to note however is that after Ash's battle with Clair it's a start of trends Ash where he uses more diverse startagies like body slamming the water. Towards the end of the series we see a departure in Ash's cocky attitude which will continue on in the next saga.

Brock - Brock pretty much has the role he had in the last series but to an even later degree, he spends countless episodes on the sidelines and basically works as a live in maid the group and he flirts, lots of flirting. Even the episodes where Brock got focus he was still forced to stay on the sideline so he never did much, what's funny is that the writers won't even be done with him as a character for another 8 season, but Johto was probably where he got the least screen time. I can only guess this was because the writers had not planned to keep him as a character and bring him back brought the writing staff trouble.

Misty - Misty finishes her last saga as the female tough as nails tomboy we have known to love. Doing girly things whenever the writers or 4kids wanted her to. Problem is that like Brock she never really did much or got a lot of development. Unlike Brock though Misty still seemed to stay the main focus of her episodes instead of just falling into the sidelines. She gained interest and participated in the Whirl Cup and didn't gain anything from it. Last season we saw her relationship with Ash get more subtle hints but that also didn't go anywhere. When she left it really did show how she's developed as a character from being such a hot headed character to a more calm collected water trainer. I really think that she made a smaller impact on the series as it went on and if she had stayed on the series she would have to just stay on the sidelines and I'm glad that they keep her appearances minimal.

Team Rocket - Team Rocket is Team Rocket they cause all the problems in every episode and in turn create bad tension. One good thing I can say about them would be how towards the end of the series they came out with more intriguing will thought out plans but that's pretty much it.

Gary Oak - At the beginning of Johto we get the impression that Gary has matured, and he kind of has what's wrong with that is the fact it made him boring and one dimensional. Fortunetly when it came to battle Ash he regained it it also led to a more touching moment between Gary and Ash as they retouch the true meaning of there rivalry but also there real friendship. I do find it believable that him and Ash are friends and I do find it believable of him to become a pokemon researcher, after all he does seem pretty finished with battling but it's not like he'll disappear from the series forever just for about four years.

Bayleaf - Bayleaf was probably the most annoying and fun member of Ash's team. She started off as a selfish and needy pokemon and we needed to sit through every freaking second of her fits. Of course as the most popular pokemon it had to be the only member of Ash's team to evolve and the only pokemon worth noting here. It's evolution was slightly symbolic of its attitude, that it was no longer a little kid but a more mature pokemon and not a cry baby and looking it's quite a shame know Bayleef has not been seen in battle for 10 years because it was a fun pokemon. Her relationship and abuse with Ash balanced her out a lot and I'd love to see the pokemon more.


Full Review    
This was probably the best part of Johto. While we get some of the worst episodes during the whirl islands arc proving to be pointless, unneeded and wasted potential. It also had one of the worst episode of the entire series I've ever seen and also one of stupidest. But it still has a lot of great moments. The entire last quarter has great battles along with great moments between Ash and the Larvitar arc is a really high point for the anime. The Johto league is also a huge improvement over the previous one with two of the most epic battles of the original series. Not only that but we get a great conclusion to the rivalry between Gary and Ash. The animation for Johto gets pretty bad and never as anything to stand out. The voice acting is also pretty bad but I don't blame 4kids for this since they were throwing out at least 5 episodes a week thanks to KidsWB and the earlier release of RS so I wouldn't blame them on this one. so overall this season still was pretty flawed but had a share of some of this sagas best.


3/5

4 To Watch

A Great Change in Pokemon Magic
Eight Aignt Enough
Adress Unown
All The Johto League Episodes

4 To Skip

Whirl Islands Arc
Hoenn Alone
Whichever Way the Wind Blows
A Hatching Plan

StaraptorEmpoleon March 18, 2012 01:09:01 AM

Ahh memories... :D

Good luck. There's so many episodes.

Dragiiin123 March 20, 2012 03:31:50 PM

the funny thing about the pokemon series is that it's the worst thing ever.
but that's why its so good! the dialogue was terrible, the songs in the show where terrible (except for the main theme, that was rad), and the characters where so one sided. never was the series good.

Eagles March 26, 2012 02:47:34 PM

I don't understand how 4Kids managed to mess up so many things up, though. They must have hired complete idiots, huh? Anyway, I remember some parts of the series, but I didn't really see the full thing. This whole thing really shows to me that the Pokemon anime has always been horrible. Great job, Nintendo. :faec:

Magmaster12 July 13, 2012 05:06:58 PM

Okay I'm posting to announce that soon I will start my reviews of Pokemon Advanced.

Pokemon Advanced    

AG001 Get the Show on the Road - This episode is a perfect introduction to the new character May, an inexperienced trainer who is more interested in traveling then actually learning about pokemon. This results in us seeing how unconfident and inexperienced she is which is well executed for future episodes. Anyways about the actual episode, first I don't really get why Jessie is now suddenly depressed. Having a tie in of the in game event with Prof Birch was pretty creative. Dan Green's performance as Professor Birch is just terrible. The episode still had good tension with the Pikachu explosion subplot

4/5

AG002 A Ruin with a View - I like how in the beginning of the episode they really have Ash displayed as a mentor to May, even though we doesn't do to much. Oh yes, they made reference to Pikachu's love of ketchup! We also get an introduction to Team Magma but like all of there future appearances they'll later be proven as completely pointless to plot with no real reasoning behind there actions. Also Team Magma is all talk, they make serous threats in this episode but never actually do anything to be taken seriously, not even when Ash and May turn the power back on and then just fly off, making there role totally useless. Of course this episode turns into a pokemon are magic episode and it ends with them trying to make the boring character of the day interesting.

3/5

AG003 There's no place like Hoenn - I freaking love how Max's reacts to meeting Ash, his reaction seems to be like any other kid if they actually met Ash. The platform the Team Rocket stands on for one second looks like ***** and I have no idea why anyone caught that. The rest of this episode is Team Rocket hijincks but because it's with defferent people it still doesn't feel repetative, especially the moments with May's Torchic and Max.

4/5

AG004 You never can Tailow - Pokemon are jerks. Suddenly Brock just appears out of freaking no where. Pikachu is so freaking over the top in this episode. Also now the Jelly Donuts are being passed as Sandwiches. The introducttion we get of Tailow is really good. Team Rocket was used small in this episode which is also good.

4/5

AG005 In the Knicker of Time - This is the episode with the insane Pokemon cosplayer. He's a pretty fun character of the day. I think this episode is good example of how Max would sometimes be overly annoying.

3/5

AG006 A Poached Ego - I like in the beginning of this episode May cockblocks Brock by wanting to talk to Nurse Joy, May's such a jerk. Why exaclty would someone want to poach a bunch of random Ekans and Koffing in the first place. No wait it's because they need poison type pokemon because apparently poison types are needed. I like how this episode makes Team Rocket more likable without completely ruining there characters. In fact I can't help but feel saddened by the goodbye.

4/5

AG007 Tree's a Crowd - I like how in this episode Brock just completely brushes off the fact that Ash is separated from the group acting like it's nothing. The moment at the end wit the tree makes no sense at all. This episode still does a good job introducing Treeko.

3/5

AG008 A Tail with a Twist - Another Team Rocket episode and this one also isn't to bad, this one is pretty funny since we get to see Jessie have a pokemon battle with Seviper which is one of there most funniest in the show. Plus character development for Treeko so yay for that.

4/5

AG009 Taming of the Shroomish - Once again we get a bunch of random moments in an episode expanding on characters and boy do I freaking love it! We go two whole minutes without any real mention of pokemon it's so refreshing! I don't get why Brock wold be so afraid to go into a haunted mansion though. Unfortunetly this episode gets wrapped in another bland character of the day episode and same old Team Rocket Attack. Also the Shroomish told Max what they wanted. Seriously what the heck!

3/5

AG010 You Said a Mouthful - A Pelliper that knows Vine Whip, Thunder, and Flamethrower seems legit. Other then that nothing to special about this episode aside from John Cambell's over the top performance in this episode which gives it a nice touch.

3/5

AG011 A Bite to Remember - Oh boy another episode another anti evolving episode. At least in this episode Max shares my point of view. We wasted ten minutes into this episode explaining different forms of evolution. Of Poochyena evolves at the end of this episode partially ruining this episodes moral and point. On the plus side this episode still had some good moment with Team Rocket but Max got pretty annoying.

3/5

AG012 The Lotad Lowdown - This episode makes pretty good use of berries they have in game. They also do a pretty good use of Brock's character which is also refreshing after seeing all the other characters get so much focus lately. Nothing really notable though.

3/5

AG013 All things bright and Beautifly - This is the episode were we have the first pokemon contest and Ash actually training one of his pokemon to learn a new move, to bad it's Pikachu. I actually wonder why Ash made such a big deal about missing the guys appeal since he just met him, what I find most ridiculous though is how the Beautifly got a perfect score when it's basically nothing compared to what we'll get in later contests. I found Jessie's appeal round to be pretty funny. Seriously the contest in this episode feels pretty underwhelming but that's most likely because this the first one and the writers still don't know what they're doing but it's still pretty good. But of course this episode needs another Team Rocket attack because we can't even go through the first contest episode without one. Still I like how May is successful with Torchic for once.

4/5

AG014 All in a Day's Wurmble - One episode after Torchic manages to defeat Seviper and the writers have already become incosistant. The group also seems to forget about May and how terrible of trainer she is when it comes to being left alone. However this still leads to pretty good character development for May who now feels like an actual trainer.

4/5

AG015 Gonna Rule School - We get a pretty funny moment in the beginning of this episode by having Ash dress up in outfits from the gift shop Wait our heroes can actually act embarrassed over something, as in real emotions!?! WOW. Why can't there ever be a gym leader in the anime to be straight forward ab out being a leader? This episodes also marks the first appearance of Typhlosion in the anime, and only about 120 episodes late. Max becomes borderline annoying in this episode with how much unneeded focus put on Max. Still some of the ideas they have with extra random characters seem pretty good because they act like actual people. Except for the bully who is there because you can't have a school without some underdeveloped jerk. It doesn't make much sense for why the shy kid would be so smart in the end though.

4/5

AG015 Winner By a Nosepass – A like how in this episode May visibly speaks her mind about why she wants to be a coordinator, she does a good job convincing us that she’s changed. We also get another random Team Rocket subplot in this episode because we can’t go one episode without them appearing. Also this is the first gym battle Max has seen, really? Seems really strange since Max is a total nerd and would have watched at least one gym battle what a stupid pointless retcon. FOR THE LOVE GOD WRITERS HOW MANY TIMES MUST SAY THIS GROUND DOESN’T EFFECT ELECTRIC NO MATTER HOW POWERFULL THE ATTACK THAT’S LIKE MULTIPLYING FIVE MILLION TIMES ZERO IT’S STILL FREAKING ZERO. Then Pikachu absorbs Nosepass’ electric attack, man this stupid. While there were still some good strategies in this episode the way Ash took out the pokemon were incredibly poorly done.
3/5

AG016 Stairway to Devon - Why isn't that the pokemon anime is still yet to mention Silph Co but they have nearly an entire episode reserved for Devon Corp? This another episode based around one of the few scattered plans of Team Magma/Aqua that is never explained or mentioned again after this episode. I don't really get why Max is so afraid about how May feels about Max braking the PokeNav when she's never been seen holding it!! I guess it still would be in character for May but I doubt she'd care. One of the inventions they have at Devon Corp is one to see in Pokemon's dream but it's not done yet, apparently they've never heard of Muuna. Another device let's you speak with pokemon, would counter argue that by mentioning N but he's still yet to appear in the anime. Devon thinks it's a good idea to bring an inexperienced child along with him to confront a possibly dangerous criminal, screw that he needs experience. Man adults in the pokemon world are stupid. It was nice to see the company but everything else in this episode is pretty forgettable, I found Devon Stone to be a little creepy.

3/5


tymp July 15, 2012 11:21:15 PM

Why are you doing this? Are you a sadist?

Magmaster12 July 16, 2012 05:25:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tymp (Post 252007)
Why are you doing this? Are you a sadist?

Cheesh it's just something to do out of boredom and at the same time I want people to be more aware of the better or worse aspects of the series.

Magmaster12 November 13, 2012 09:25:30 AM

Okay enough procrastination it is now time for me continue my duties.

Magmaster12 September 3, 2014 05:57:59 PM

Today is also the day I resume my pokemon rewatching marathon yet again, expect two episode reviews every week day until I reach Battle Frontier or Boomerang stops airing pokemon. Expect one today because I've already reviewed the other episode they had on today.

A Three Team Scheme - This is the beginning of Prof Birch semi joining the group but the idea of a fully grown man (who may or may not have his own kid) hanging out with a bunch of kids is kind of creepy. Oh Brock upset about there training pans getting ruined. Oh no not Team Magma they're going to make sure no ocean waves destroy any sand castles! This episode also introduces the aspects of secret base, but there's seriously nothing secret about a random door in the middle of a cave. Team Rocket's stealth in this episode would make a secret base. Team Rocket is completely not above home robbery of a little kid now. And now Team Aqua is here, no doubt to destroy more sand castles. Now Team Magma is going to take push Team Rocket out of the kids secret base This level 3 Meaness now! I like how May stands up to the kid who just ran off from Team Rocket without battling it really shows off her character development she's had so far. Apparently Team Magma need to drill through this kids secret base to get into the cave of origin even though they probably could have started in any part of the cave. One problem though the cave orgin is on the other side of Hoenn but no matter this is just another example of the evil teams getting random pointless set that will lead to nothing. Oh no now Team Aqua is pointlessly here.
http://www.serebii.net/anime/picture...n/303/0232.JPG
I think the guy on the right was the inspiration for Tabitha's new design.

Also 4kids messed up Shelly and Tabitha are called Isabel and Harland (which is a worse male name then Tabitha) personally I don't blame 4kids for not knowing this considering how forgettable admin battles in RS were. Oh wait this isn't even the cave origin, however it's not mentioned at all again so it doesn't matter. I'm actually really enjoying this rivalry they've set up between Team Magma and Team Aqua it's just so suave and seeing there different methods of executing a mission is awesome. Of course we have to another Team Rocket moment but it works since this allows the character of the day Keanu to find confidence and get his nincada back.

A lot happens in this episode but that's what makes it so great best in a while.
5/5

Magmaster12 September 4, 2014 04:24:08 PM

Seeing is Believing - Okay this episodes starts with typical random filler stuff, introducing our heroes pokemon to Birch, stuff with Jesse still in denial about her Cascoon being a Silcoon despite shouting it's name as Cascoon, and introducing the pokemon of the day and there random problem then Team Rocket attacks and gets defeated. Beautifly has evolved and now they're training it for a contest despite they other problem of the day. This episode may be incredibly drawn out and boring but the stuff with James and Meowth being scared of Jesse is still funny. Of course she is pleased with her Dustox. That was a really boring episode.

2/5

Ready, Willing and Sableye - Why does Brock want Corphish to help cut the vegetables he doesn't know where those claws have been! So Ash wants to train in an abandoned gold mine so Corphish can stop being so over confident, this is incredibly stupid but makes Ash believable as a kid which isn't too often anyways. Now Max and May are scared by a Sableye. Meowth and Sableye team up to scare the rest of our heroes lucky for Sableye the surveillance still works in this abandoned mine even though it's well abandoned and no one is there to keep electricity running. Better yet why would a gold mine have colored surveillance cameras in the first place? Now Team Rocket has shown up so Meowth can now betray Sableye of course and in typical pokemon of the day actions Sableye saves our heroes lives. Once again another mildly boring episode.

3/5

Magmaster12 September 5, 2014 04:54:31 PM

A Meditite Fight - In this episode we meet Brawly's "Girlfriend" Battle Girl Shawna which is a reference to a random trainer in Brawly's gym who own a Meditite. Team Rocket's plan in this episode is apparently to dig as many holes and hope they fall in one, seriously. I like how they're making references to training and strategy that Ash learned from training to defeat Brawly. This is a big deal but it will come to play a lot bigger in DP. Now the battle between Ash and Shawna has to be stopped because there's a hurricane on the way, even when there's danger Brawly still has to use his lame sufer lingo to save everyone.
Brawly: Sometimes Pokemon dudes know more about human dudes.
Me: AGH!!!
We then get more character development from Shawna and Brawly being "deep" I can't tolerate him when he's talking normally and I can barely tolerate him when he's stupid smart talking smart makes no difference. And of course Team Rocket betray the group yet again despite saving there lifes, you'd think by now they'd just let them die but this is a ids show whatever.
Brawly: Mega Colossul
Yes 4kids seriously thinks that's surfer slang, oh well I only have to tolerate him for one more episode then I'm done. This episode has good fights in it and good character development but oh man do I still hate Brawly's dialogue.

4/5

Just one of the Geysers - Brawly wants to have there rematch in a training cave because having it in the actual gym would be safe! Seriously this is just a disaster waiting to happen. Well at least it makes Team Rocket's appearance short even if it takes the first six minutes of the episode. Aside from that this is a good gym battle despite being pretty slow episode plus Brawly doesn't spew as much terrible dialogue as the his other episodes.

4/5

Magmaster12 September 8, 2014 04:25:08 PM

Abandon Ship - Team Rocket helps out our heroes with a pan to steal there pokemon, because you know that plan hasn't been done before. Of course Pikachu easily escapes because you know Team Rocket used a freaking plastic bag and clearly had no exit strategy. But this leaves our group completely stranded yet again, get used to this plot folks it happens a lot in Hoenn. They then find the abandoned ship that is on Route 108 in the games personally I only cared about this location because it was were you could get TM Ice Beam. Fortunately the ship has someone who is looking for his lost pokemon. Meowth, Max and Torchic end up getting captured leading to some funny moments in clashing personalities. So apparently the trainer who is looking for his missing pokemon is taking his vengeance on the trainers for getting abandoned. Which is why he's also been kidnapping pokemon? This plot has been done before so meh. Ash is going to challenge Slateport Gym, oh 4kids.

3/5

Now that's what I call Flower Power - This episode is the first appearance Drew, who basically starts off as Gary less based around being "that guy" and more being polite while also being a jirk but as time goes on becomes his own better written character. I have to admit as a stupid judgmental kid because I saw contests as being so feminine I thought that Drew was gay, keep that in mind. Jessie also plans on entering pokemon contests something she will continue until will stop seeing contests. We also have a random stranger who is a grown man go up to our heroes give them a pokeblock container and he now want to show May something great back at the shop. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAY STAY AWAY FROM THIS MAN. Of course that's not the situation, ew the guy makes some fire works, no not what you're thinking pokemon fire works of course. Torchic ends up eating all the Bluk Berries that the man was going to use for his fireworks so the group needs to find some for him. They find one but Drew wants so May battles Drew and this is the first battle where it actually feels like May might win. However Team Rocket comes in and intervenes because you now we can't have one episode without a Team Rocket episode. Drew is willing to help out taking Team Rocket maing the first time we get a rival fight Team Rocket which is kid of what separates him from the other recurring rival before he's willing to help early on because he is a good guy. They manage to get the berry back of course while blasting off Team Rocket because physics in the pokemon world is different from the real world. A lot happens in this episode and I really like Drew early on which is more then I can say about Gary early on.

5/5

Magmaster12 September 9, 2014 04:28:31 PM

Having a Wailord of a Time - This episode really stands out for me because it takes such a simple premise and makes it completely absurd, that and I remember seeing a youtube poop of this episode six years ago. May leaves Torchic behind so she can practice with Beatifly, Max is bothered by this because of this. But Brock and Ash reassure him because Torchic is her first pokemon so she must care about him, this may seem like another random moment but it's another foreshadow of what's to come. Ash and Brock end up talking about there own first pokemon like how Brock got his Onix from his dad on his tenth birthday. I like how Max says Brock's dad must have been awesome for doing but seems completely neutral clearly he's still mad about his dad walking out on him. Also hearing Eric Stuart make Brock sound prepubescent is hilarious. May contacts a Nurse Joy about a Wailord that is stuck on the beach (yes seriously) so now Ash and Max have to watch over starter pokemon and the interactions between the regular starter pokemon and new starters are pretty funny like the overly feminine treeko. Of course the door just so happens to be open and the new Torchic ends up escaping and then evolving. They sure are over dramatic about the idea of how the trainer would react. For an episode called having a Wailord of a time Wailord is actually bearly in this, we have a scene of Nurse Joy inspecting it then a moment where Team Rocket of course tries to steal it and that's it. Of course the trainer ends up choosing Mudkip and then her father wants to become a pokemon trainer and take in Treeko, err okay. Still this was a fun episode and I'm glad we got to see how Brock got his first pokemon.

5/5

Win Loose or Drew - Finally it's time to see May participate in the pokemon contest. It's established May clearly lacks confidence, which is understandable she still quite new to the idea of being around pokemon and has little idea of what she's dong still. Drew's performance is well done and the execution of contests finally feels complete and they feel really well done. Also Derpy Nurse Joy.
http://www.serebii.net/anime/picture...n/311/0194.JPG
May's lack of battling experience leads for her to loose to Drew in the first of many loses against him. Only for Drew to loose to Robert who uses a Milotic that's freaking uber right there. But it leaves on a positive note, how while May may fail there will always be someone better then her. May goes back to say bye to Drew and that she won't loose to him next time seriously I ship May and Drew I hate shipping but darn it's hard not to root for them. Also there's a Team Rocket subplot of them planning on making pokeblock only for an old man to go up to them and talk to them for hours, they all fall asleep accept for James who writes everything down, that's pretty funny. As far as an early contest episode this one is pretty good.

4/5

Magmaster12 September 10, 2014 07:07:11 PM

Spheal of Approval - Now that the contest is over they need to do the event were Team Magma brakes in err goes to a museum, once again they're clearly not evil. :roll: Also we have an obvious Bug Catcher that uses a Spheal for some reason. Team Rockets plan in this episode is to give our group free snowcones so they'll get brain freeze and then steal Pikachu, yes seriously even Max sees through this plan. Of course instead of running off immediately Team Rocket instead decides to fight Team Magma so they can steal what they're now stealing. And of course they're defeated and Team Magma gets away with what they're stealing but the character of the day doesn't have a full loss pretty forgettable overall.

3/5

Jump for Joy - Nurse Joy focused episodes are usually terrible, I mean the character is a total Mary-Sue. In this episode she is captured by a Shiftry, yes seriously. Brock is acting kind of pervy in this episode, freaking out all because he's in Nurse Joy's room, I'm half expecting him to look for her underwear. Of course Shiftry only kidnapped nurse Joy so she could heal some random grass types of course. Ash and friends aren't smart enough to thing of that as a reason. 4kids inserted a lot of obviously terrible dialogue in this episode. This a cliched episode the only enjoable thing was seeing the Shiftry battles.

2/5

Magmaster12 September 11, 2014 04:36:03 PM

A different Kind of Misty - This is the most bizarrely misleading title. They team comes across a light house in the middle of the woods which guides trainers. Are there things like this in real life? just random light houses in the middle of woods? Oh look an ancient hero in this episode that looks like Ash and used a Pikachu, this is a cliche that is actually still done to this day, it kind of makes me wonder if the Pokemon World universe there's such thing as reincarnation. I'm enjoying there actually making something of this though, Ash is now trying to teach a kid who think's he's the hero and Ash is clearly enjoying it which is nice. And of course Team Rocket has to show up to create conflict now and steal the thing that keeps the light house operating. Of course the kid finds out Ash is no hero but learns he just needs to trust each other more. Hey this is the first episode where Max pulls Brock away. Well that was okay.

3/5

A Poke-Block Party - Oh boy an episode devoted to my favorite side quest in RS the trick house. I love the depiction of the trick master in this episode he clearly belongs in a mental institution just look at him!
http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...ster_anime.png
Seeing the characters trying to solve the maze and other puzzles in this episode are pretty funny. It's amazing when Japan depicts crazy while knowing they can't get even crazier. Oh look Jigglepuff is making it's final appearance, this is the only time we see it in Hoenn adding even more crazy to this episode. The real reason they had Jigglypuff appear in this episode was so we could see Whismer's sound proof get showcased now someone is able to hear Jigglypuff's singing! I like how May and the character of the day are able to laugh at each other over the marker mess on there faces. They also have good interaction talking about what the trick master's deal is. This is a great episode filled with a lot of craziness.

5/5

Magmaster12 September 12, 2014 05:05:51 PM

Watts with Wattson - Our heroes have already entered Mawhile City, that was pretty fast considering how long it took them to get to the third gym last time. Wattson is kind of a sadist, I mean having a robotic Raikou appear to challengers who might attack them. Then again this is the guy who made you of all people go into a power plant to turn off the power. All Wattson is apparently the leaders last name which is weird since this show never reveals characters last names let alone not revealing the first names so it's weird hearing our heroes refer to him as Mr.Wattson. As gym battle it's pretty underwhelming, well actually that's probably an understatement, basically Pikachu was overcharged by the Raikou robot that attacked them and he's able to ohko all of Wattson's pokemon. Personally I can't blame the writers for doing this I've using Ash's Hoenn team in Ruby but I gave up because I had so much trouble defeating Wattson. It's also pretty refreshing to see Ash own a gym leader plus there hasn't been such a big gap so I'll let this slide. Pikachu is now sick because it's become overcharged
POKEMON SCIENCE. Wattson is upset over the loss and he's wondering to New Mawhile and he's now planning on abdoning the gym Oh No! But that doesn't matter because he's befriended an Elektrike! Elektrike has a really creepy voice. Of course Wattson is present just in time to fight off Team Rocket who are stealing pokemon with a mecha. Why do they only have these plans when someone is present? I like how Ash wants to give the badge back because it wasn't fair, yeesh Ash that battle was still more fair a majority of you Kanto badges but at least this shows Ash's character development.

4/5

HOLY COW I'M NOW DONE WITH POKEMON ADVANCE IT ONLY TOOK TWO YEARS! This is still a far faster pace then Linkara's history of Power Ranger and I will continue to post until Battle Frontier Airs where I might just binge watch the whole thing because I enjoy it so much as well Diamond and Pearl but at slower pace probably. Tommorow I'll post a summary of my thought on the season and on Sunday I'll post a review of Jirachi Wish Maker.

What you seed is what you get - I never thought about but this the opening to Advanced Challenge had a lot of evolution/capture spoilers. As for the song itself I really enjoy it starts off slowing building itself up and giving us a payoff becoming fast paced. Our heroes are now heading towards Fallarbor town for another pokemon contest and they come across some watermelon. I can't help but wonder if they're actually using Watmel Berries. This does become a good excuse for Ash to try to teach Treeko Bullet Seed. I like the character of the day in this episode she's lovably eccentric. Oh man this is the first episode were they introduce trainers choice the first makes sense but these get stupider as time goes on. I like Electrode's reaction to Meowth's fantasy in this episode, he's like wtf.
http://www.serebii.net/anime/picture...n/317/0206.JPG
He is so sick of your garbage. Treeko has almost mastered Bullet Seed which is great since it finally gets a grass move. Ash looses to the character of the day but that's good since whenever a pokemon beats its evolved form it never evolves into it. That was a good episode.

4/5

Magmaster12 September 13, 2014 10:32:10 AM

Okay here's my final thoughts on Pokemon Advanced.

Character Analysis     

Ash - Probably my favorite aspect of this series is that we have Ash finally showing some real character development. Not only is he pretty mature as a trainer but he clearly knows what he's doing, well most of the time at least. It's really shown off how much he's grown in the role of mentor he plays towards May and how he actually wanted to give back his gym badge by seeing it as an unfair match. He may have his moments of stupidity but he's clearly smarter and that's still a vast improvement

May - It's only the first season of AG and it's already pretty clear by the end that she has changed. In the first she admits she doesn't even like pokemon and is only interested in becoming a trainer so she can travel. I can't blame her on this fact I love traveling too although I do find it odd how her father is a gym leader and her brother being so studious that she wouldn't know anything about pokemon. However as the series goes on she learns to make plenty of bonds with pokemon and learn more about them. It's shown in the middle of this season that she cares a lot about pokemon. Her lack of confidence is shown during her first contest and it's understandable why, but as the show goes on it does continue

Max - A lot of people consider Max to be the fourth wheel of AG. However I disagree with that I actually really like Max. I mean having this younger kid how is smarter then Ash and always correcting him as a young fan I actually really liked him he's kind of like a surrogate for the young know it all pokemon fan. His role doesn't feel uneven in fact it actually counterbalances Brock's role, May gets so much attention with contests having two other slightly minor character makes Brock's role. Besides throughout the show he does a lot more then Brock did last season. His main shining moment would probably be when he got into a pokemon battle and lost and realizes while he knows a lot he's still got a lot to learn before becoming a pokemon trainer. That perspective alone ads a lot to a new fan of the show as well. That and it was also nice not having Ash wonder off on his own sometimes, because as I said earlier he can't hold an episode on his own.

Brock - Brock is Brock he's just there to be the mother/daddy of the group still, cleaning, cooking and being the oldest and wisest while also hitting on as many girls as possible, he catches two new pokemon this season and takes care of Sharpedo and that's it.

Team Rocket - This is the season where Weezing and Arbok get released and i couldn't care less for them, there captures or even there giant mechas there still just another distraction to stretch out the episode.

Ash's Pokemon - Unlike previous seasons the pokemon in this show now usually have a lot more personality. Pikachu doesn't do much this season it finally learns iron tail which it still knows to this day but other then saying it's name not much else. Tailow will probably go on to be one of Ash's strongest flying types however it did very little this season other then helping find out to get a sky view of helping find Team Rocket. Treeko is a fan favorite unlike Ash's previous pokemon he's super serious and determined to not let his pride get him down, he's probably the main pokemon in this saga that gets the most screentime aside from pikachu. Corphish is kind of jerk an idiot but a jerk, not much beyond that though.

May's Pokemon - Beautifly will never do anything other then look pretty for contests. Torchic on the other hand despite not getting used until way later in show for a contest it's commonly clumsy and stupid kind of a reflection of May as a trainer in the beginning, it didn't get any development yet but it will.

Brock Pokemon - The only one of his pokemon worth noting would probably Lotab it's very absent minded and funny it also knows two moves it should learn through level up but only through egg moves making this lotad most likely hacked.


Final Thoughts    
As whole Advanced is pretty good there's plenty of character development, likable characters and even the pokemon and characters of the day are pretty memorable. However it still has the reek of Johto on it, early on there are plenty of slow and pointless fillers. As the series goes on and we get more contests and character development it does get better but so much of it is just so slow but the season did leaves on a high note 


3.5/5

5 to Watch
Having a Wailord of a time
Gonna Rule School
A Three Team Scheme
Now that's what I call flower Power
A Poke-Block Party

3 to skip
Jump For Joy
Turning over a Nuzleaf
A mudkip mission

Magmaster12 September 14, 2014 07:33:00 PM

Okay here's my review of Jirachi Wishmaker

Hey a Brendan cameo, I look forward to seeing him in two more cameos and then never again. The opening narration is great and starts a trend of having the world of pokemon intro being amazing. Our heroes have taken a detour to see the millennial comet carnival or whatever. Which manages to get set up in three minutes real time, seriously there's being whimsy and then just showing off and getting boring. They go see a magic show and Max the great has some psychic connection with some random stone and of course he's able to go up on stage and be in the show. Eric Stuart directed this episode so of course Brock and James are given lots of extra lines. The chemistry between the group in this movie is really good especially between Max and May they're all acting like actual kids in this movie and not heroes automatically excepting of there role. Max immediately accepts the stone by the way and promises to be best friends with Jirachi. May sings a lullaby her mother sang to Max, it sounds nothing like her because they're using Japanese voice but it still works. Jira hi is then awoken, however it turns it can't grant wishes at all only teleport THEN WHY DO THEY CALL IT THE WISHING POKEMON!? Of course this all to push in a forced moral. More Team Rocket banter is here, but some of my favorite Team Rocket moments are in the movies of this saga so no big deal. Butler wants to use Jirachi's ability to use Doom Desire to create enough energy to create a Groudon, for Team Magma yes seriously. Well actually they laughed at him last time he tried and now he's doing it for his girlfriend? what? They run off to return to Jirachi's home in Forrina to avoid Butler even though he clearly put a tracking device so it knows where it's going oh wait now it's fallen off. I really like Butler as a villain you can really understand his motives and his relationship with Dianne is well played out. You gotta love the use of the instrumental Advanced Adventure. Pretty annoying how 4kids put in that pokeshipping reference when Ash has bonded with and released plenty of pokemon. Not only did Butler know that Jirachi and the group would return to Forina he set up his machines in the same place where Jirachi will rest. We then get a pretty awsome sky battle between Butler's Salamence and a wild Flygon with Max and Ash riding. The Groudon gets revived but of course it's a fake abomination that destroys everything living around it so we can have our close to death all is lost moment. Aw Diane sacrificed herself to save Butler, although baed off what we've seen this is more of a sign of an abusive relationship. I do like how Brock and May get sucked up but this leaves Ash and Max as able to do something during the climax which is nice since it isn't just Ash for once. Of course Butler is able to reverse the polarity of the jelly baby flow blah blah blah technobabble and save the day.I actually really enjoy this movie for two reasons, it's nice to have someone besides Ash be the focus of the movie force and the chemistry between the characters is really good. The music and animation are also top notch as usual and it's the only exception where they actually kept the ending credits music.

4/5

robiby September 15, 2014 03:24:44 AM

I would pay to have the time to watch all the episodes of the anime xD
I'll probably go for the ones you suggest.

For the Fist Movie, I recently watched the US version which has the dream-scenes with the researcher's daughter and the starters... I think it's far better than the version I saw as a child (EU version, in Italian), because it explains Mewtwo's rage a lot better: without that, Mewtwo just seems a monster.

Magmaster12 September 15, 2014 04:29:07 PM

Love at first flight - This is an about an Illumise and Volbeat preforming show with a guy named Romeo and a girl named Juliette, seriously this wasn't an attempt of the dub writers to be cute it's like this in the original. Oh man Brock has seriously gone out of control with his hormones when he sees Juliette. Romeo is "english" and uses what 4kids thinks is British slang and it's pretty bad.

Two episodes in and the trainers choice is already a mistake.
http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...-PTC_AG042.png Both Roselia and Plusle are good choices, but the 4kids answer is Plusle even though Roselia resists water. Ash then dresses up as Juilette so Romeo can get over the fear of his feelings for her thus starting the trend of having Ash crossdress in every saga. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Even though that makes it creepy when Brock falls for er Ash. And of course Team Rocket attacks then all conflicts are resolved. Despite my complaints this episode is still pretty funny.

4/5

Let Bagons be Bagons - This episode is about a Bagon that wants to fly. It's pretty cool how the character of the day in this episode uses a whole bunch of tech to study her opponent. But that's still not enough for her. Team Rocket then captures Bagon so they can use so the boss can brake coconuts with its head seriously. Hey the trainers choice in this episode actually makes sense. Of course in the end the take Meowth's jetpack which allows Bagon to fly. To bad it'll be useless once it evolves into a Shelgon

3/5

Magmaster12 September 16, 2014 04:29:40 PM

The Princess and the Togepi - Here it is the episode everyone has been waiting for, the one were Misty makes a return. She's here for a Togepi festival, however this is all clearly a rowse by Team Rocket, even though six seasons ago Giovanni had rejected Togepi. Misty and the gang are then brought to mirage kingdom. However it turns out Team Rocket was hired by the mirage kingdom leader who needs a Togepi. Why? Seriously why? You have a freaking kingdom at your hand with a powerful Sheinja and Ninjask to boot what more do you need!? Misty looses her Togepi in battle and it just goes flying off, just like that. You know this is getting pretty stupid. It turns out the evil king with the evil mustache wants to prevent the succession because he's *gasp* evil.
Really with a mustache like that I'd think you'd be the royal baker.http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...nel_Hansen.png
It's funny seeing Misty pull Brock from the ear again and thus starting the trend of Max pulling away Brock. I seriously have no idea what's going on right now but apparently this is a two parter.

3/5

A Togepi Mirage - The recap has explained what's going on and I seriously don't care, I'm just hoping this evil king gets the molten gold pored on his head then at the wedding of the princess James comes in and murders everyone including Pikachu, man I've been watching way to much game of thrones lately but that show is still easier to follow what the heck is going on in this episode. Okay that's probably a stretch but honestly, apparently Togepi is flying around and it ends up with the evil king. Seriously this episode is lacking actual interaction between Misty and the other characters and the plot is a complete mess it's like they meshed together a movie but wanted to make the event bigger by including Misty. The evil King then betray Team Rocket despite being probably the only ones loyal to him. Seriously this guys an idiot how can this guy not expect a revolt!? After all this is going to um er actually what is it this king wants to do that's so evil that requires him to be king? I mean I'd take the old guy over the bland princess, at least he has experience and willing to take action. Togepi then evolves into a Togetic in it's only anime appearance. Misty then defeats the obviously evil King's pokemon his mustache breaks and he's exilled. Now Togetic wants to stay even though she didn't really do anything to save the kingdom, Togetic you jerk you've been with her your entire life!

2/5

Magmaster12 September 17, 2014 07:16:14 PM

Candid Camerupt - Our group passes out in the desert fortunately the get picked up by the Winstrate family from the games. Vito (who left to become a trainer only to find out he wanted to become a breeder) then comes across Team Rocket who passed out, when Vito tells them his back story they actually care for him James especially yay for continuity not that this matters since we can't have one episode without a Team Rocket battle so I already know what will happen. They battle the Winstrates and Max gets his first pokemon battle. We're currently at two when it comes to terrible trainers choice.
http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...-PTC_AG046.png Of course all these pokemon would do terrible against a Camerupt. Grandma's Camerupt goes crazy but Vito coomes and saves the day. Of course Team Rocket then attacks and it's the end of the episode. This was an enjoyable episode they showcased the family very well and this had some pretty good battles.

4/5

I feel skitty - This is the episode where May captures Skitty. The group goes to a aroma therapy place to take care of an injured Skitty. This is the first episode where Max actually pulls Brock away and thus starting the running gag of him doing it. Oh look Team Rocket is attacking again by er cross dressing so they can steal the aromas of course. I like how Jesse and Meowth almost leave James behind because he wants to steal the Weepingbell again. Great Continuity! Meowth took Skitty with him because he fell in love, Meowth falls in love with humans and pokemon this is just creepy. Jesse and May have a fight over who should fight Skitty. Of course May wins. This was a so-so episode.

3.5/5

Magmaster12 September 18, 2014 04:30:59 PM

ZigZagZangoose - Oh boy it's the return of the knicker bocker guy, I can imagine a lot of people asked for this. I'm being sarcastic. his Mudkip has since evolved. In a rare occurrence of knowledge Ash sends Treeko out to battle Marshtomp and it actually wins. He now owns a Zangoose which is a natural enemy of Seviper and that's basically the focus of this episode. We then have a cosplay battle with Ash dressed as a Seviper and Zach dressed as a Zangoose.
Today's trainer choice is just awful
http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...-PTC_AG048.png
The 4kids answer is Dewgong but the real answer is obviously Nosepass yeesh I highly doubt 4kids is even aware ice is supereffective against flying or that Dewgong is even an ice type. Team Rocket does there motto yet again while Zangoose goes off to fight Seviper. You can tell it's a fight by all the stills they did, not sure if its 4kids editing out violence or lazy animation. Of course he wins and Nicolai is never seen again and we yet again never find out who wins a battle between Ash and Nicolai, even though Nicolai is a terrible trainer and clearly lost.

4/5

Maxxed Out - Our gang enters a Pokemon Center and Brock has flowers for Nurse Joy. Oh no Max has a doupleganger name *gasp* Max also! Team Rocket has some good moments in this episode basically stuff like James going over how they need a routine and Jesse freaking out over her hair. This episode has some good characterization for Max, who realizes how lucky he is to be able to travel while character of the day Max is jealous of that while regular Max is jealous of his Surskit. Jessie goes crazy by the end of this episode she doesn't even know why she's going after Surskit. Good Episode

4/5

Magmaster12 September 21, 2014 06:20:57 PM

Coming in two days late because I'm now back from New York.

Pros and Con Artists - We're already about to have May's second contest and she's actually really confident this time. One trainer has a Medicham a pokemon that makes so few appearances in this saga for the longest time I thought it was a Gen IV pokemon. Her trainer is quite hilarious. She's clearly another rival for the contest, we never see her again, but it's pretty clear the writers are trying to find out which characters could work as long time rivals and which can't. Of course the the title of this episode comes from Team Rocket scheming everyone with pokeblocks. Pokeblock Gold and Pokeblock Silver.The give one to Jessie's Wobbuffet and this happens.
Capture the screenshot kids    
http://media.pocketmonsters.net/imag...6101950070.jpg

Drew then challenges Ash to a battle, I'd like to remind at this stage he's pretty much still a Gary clone but it's nice seeing Ash battle someone else's rival. Hey trainer's choice makes sense for once. Seriously though Ash's battle against Drew makes no sense, Drew's Roselia beats his Tailow by flying up really high and Ash lost. This is the last episode where James does crossdressing. May considers using Team Rocket's pokeblock but the trainer of the day blows there cover and May realizes only a true trainer would make her own pokeblock, good moment of character development for May.

5/5

Come What May - We barely see the preliminaries in this episode, May uses the same strategy as last time. This kind of annoying since those would go on to be the best part of the contest. Jessie enters the contest as Jessica and she doesn't enter as Jessie because, well I don't know and tries to win by cheating of course. Jessica, Drew, May and the trainer of the day are of course the only ones to proceed. Jessie and May battle and there's absolutely no tension to this battle because May has beat Jessie many times already by this point. After getting caught cheating Team Rocket decides to attack any ways. You'd think after getting caught cheating they'd have May battle the person that almost got into the next round but nope. There's a lot of tension to this battle between trainer of the day and Drew since we just saw him beat Ash's tailow. Drew ends up loosing without giving any damage. I'd like take this moment to point out the anime writers still make psychic types like Medicham way too overpowered. Also trainers choice in this episode actually makes sense for once. This is the first contest battle that feels like an actual contests battle they show off some great moves while trying to show off there beauty while May has a strategy she learned from watching Ash's battle with Drew. Despite winning May still seems to lack confidence.
Despite no preliminary this is the first of many great contest battles.

5/5

Magmaster12 September 22, 2014 04:57:13 PM

Cheer Pressure - We see Thatcher in this episode again from that Plusle and Minun episode who has left to become a pokemon trainer but has now joined a pep squad for some reason. Of course Team Rocket pays the pep squad to cheat. Jame's Cacnea beats Brock's Forretress, by cheating of course. Max then finds out the cheering routine is a huge scam. As kid I remember seeing this episode new but I seriously do not remember the plot of this episode and I can understand why it's pretty boring.

3/5

Game Winning Assist - Another episode with a cold open that has barely anything to deal with the episode I enjoy it. A lady is nice enough to stay at a numel farm after passing through Fiery Path and because the pokemon world is very different ours a random stranger is willing to let them spend the night. May then has a battle with her Skitty and the sstranger, Julie. Of course Team Rocket comes in with a giant robot to steal all the Numel only for May to also get capture. One of these Team Rocket is going to be in a situation like this and just murder there captive. Wow this weeks trainer's choice is just awful. Team Rocket's fantasies of what would happen to them if they won were pretty neat, nice having them win then not argue. Of course May manages to escape and it's nice seeing she can really hold her own. Of course we get our usual Team Rocket attack and the episode ends.

4/5

Magmaster12 September 23, 2014 04:52:20 PM

Fight for the Meteorite - I never understand this plot at all in the game. Why exactly did Team Aqua/Team Magma need this random meteorite at Mount Chimney? Our team gets on to the cable car to go to the top of mount chimney and are trapped with Team Rocket, it's pretty funny seeing them try to stay in character while knowing there plan is ruined. Ash tries to get help by pulling off a stunt that any sane person would never do. Ash meets Prof Cozmo and we find out why he's a researcher, meh. Once again Team Magma's plan is a success and succeed to doing yet another thing that will never led to the overall plot. Team Aqua also showed up to do nothing but they both see that as a win, for some reason. They also pushed the meteorite device into the lava to prevent it's evil use. Well at least this episode didn't have a Team Rocket Attack.

4/5

Poetry in Commotion! - Well we're finally in Lavaridge Town, Ash should have died at least three times in his rush rush attitude getting here but he's finally done it. I like Flannery she's a pretty awesome and funny. She's completely clueless because her grandfather the previous leader left to do pokemon poetry is now journying. After only three days he returns and uses disguises and hilarity ensues while the try to prepare the gym. Then Team Rocket comes in. Flannery is a great character and this is a hilarious episode.

5/5

Magmaster12 September 24, 2014 08:04:18 PM

Going Going Yawn - So far I've only liked one out of three of the last gym battles lets see if this can even it out. Because this is Ash's first gym battle he's actually quite confident. We have Team Rocket fail at the same plan they failed at last time but not as pathetic as yet another terrible trainers choice. Both Ash and Flannery have great characterization this all topped off by a great battle.

5/5

Going for a Spinda - Why are fillers after a gym battle always terrible? Ash decides it's time to finally challenge to Petalburg City gym because going to Fortree City would require going through a desert. Unlike other sagas this show seems to imply Hoenn only has 9 gyms. Because Brock is smiden by some random woman our group agrees to help find her Spinda with a specific pattern, random shenanigans occur. Team Rocket then appears to capture all the Spinda for no explained reason. Well the antics with Team Rocket and Spinda are pretty funny. As soon as the trainer finds her Spinda she also finds her fiance and of course Brock is heartbroken. Of course now Team Rocket now has to show up with a mech and it gets defeated.

2/5

Magmaster12 September 25, 2014 04:54:10 PM

All Torkoal, No Play - Ash is witness to Torkoal getting attacked by a Skarmory and Magnemite. Torkoal is a total cry baby, it's probably one my favorite pokemon caught by Ash for being so different from most pokemon. Apparently they've wondered into the valley of steel where most pokemon attack. Our stupid heroes decide to not turn around despite the huge threat of danger. Of course they make it out alive after they battle a Steelix, he's gonna fit right in.

4/5

Manectric Charge - It only took two episodes and our heroes have already returned to Mawville where there is a carnival. With no prizes I might add because 4kids thinks they're evil.
http://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/compar...9_plush01j.jpg
This is not in the dub I don't have a picture of the dub.
Of course the Carnival is run by Team Rocket, yeesh this is the second carnival in a row our gang has gone to and have it be evil. Wattson and his assistant then arrive to save the day and his Manectric evolves. May's skitty battles Watt's Ampharos and she some how manages to win creating probably the biggest win she's had so far. Ash then wants his Torkoal to battle Wattson's Manectric.
Jesse: Not knowing when to give is the mark of good villain
No it's the mark of an annoying one. Ash's Torkoal looses to Wattson but at least we finally have a real battle between him and Ash.

4/5

Magmaster12 September 26, 2014 05:00:23 PM

Delcatty got Tongue - Skitty is injured and since there's no pokemon center in this big town they have to go to a special clinic, which is perfect so Brock can have someone to flirt with. The doctor is also a legendary coordinator who won the grand festival and we learn her backstory which is interesting. She then reveals she has a Delcatty and of course Team Rocket wants to steal it. There plan involves dressing up as Scandinavians of course and attaching a collar to skitty and delcatty. In process of battling Team Rocket May's Skitty learns Blizzard. May then decides to use Skitty in the next contest poor Torchic.

4/5

Disaster of Disguise - OMG it's Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon and he's attacking Drew with his Dusclops! Okay I have to admit an annoyance right now, we just had Drew get defeated by May's potential opponent why are they doing this again? This time we have him almost defeating Ash's Pikachu. The Phantom's mom wants to know why her son keeps disappearing when he around. Yeesh seriously can't put two and two together huh? Really is it necessary for the group to get rapped in all this drama? The mother of course in complete denial, she wants her son to be scholar so she can take over her company. I like how Brock defends Timmy by claiming a lot can be learned through pokemon battles, seriously great characterization of Brock there. We then have the phantom's father appear out of no where, seriously even Ash is shocked by his sudden appearance. He then reveals he was the phantom because he wanted to go behind his wife's back despite his love for her and gave the phantom costume to his son after he fond a duskull. They then ease the mother suspicions by having Brock show up as the phantom (with hilariously bad acting) of course Team rocket then has to show up and ruin everything.
http://www.serebii.net/anime/picture.../337/AG291.jpg
. Despite obviously figuring out Timmy is the Phantom she goes along with Brock's scheme. Despite the rehash I actually really enjoyed this episode I'm starting to remember why this was the point in the show where I started watching again and I for one am looking forward to seeing May bash the hopes and dreams of this kid.

5/5

Magmaster12 September 29, 2014 04:53:06 PM

Disguise Da Limit - Timothy has managed to get to the pokemon contest thanks to his dad helping him. Of course that doesn't help since his mom finds out almost immediately. Unlike the last contest this one is actually actually has a big audience. Jessie is part of the contest as Jessilana, seriously and this time she doesn't even cheat. May performs poorly in the preliminaries thanks to Skitty failing at Blizzard. This episode came the same week as FRLG which must be why we get a cameo of Blastiose and Charizard weird that didn't use Blastiose instead of Venusaur. Phantom manages to beat Jessie, some how revealing her disguise when Team Rocket comes out to steal the Dusclops however Pikachu is some how able to just shock them from the audience. Also Timothy's mother is impressed by Timothy's battling and let's him continue so he can on to battle May in the finals.May is struggling because just now the anime writers remember Normal doesn't effect ghost. Timothy's mom encourages him to never give up even with luck being on May's side with her Skitty using assist eventually winning ruining Timothy's dreams.

4/5

Take the Lombre Home - Our group is looking for water with no luck only for Lotad to randomly evolve. According to the pokedex entry it's sometimes mistaken for a child, how creepy. It turns out the village believe that Lombre will bring back water to the town. It's believed that a Solrock is actually responsible for the drought. However because plot convenience Team Rocket is of course responsible for stealing the water. Of course they're then defeated, end of episode.

2/5

Magmaster12 September 30, 2014 04:55:51 PM

True Blue Swablu - Basically the gang finds an abandoned Swablu and May takes care of it. This really does show how far she's come since being the girl who admitted she didn't like Pokemon very much. Of course Team Rocket comes up with a plan to steal it. Yeah there's not to much to talk about in this episode. I do agree while Swablu would be fitting for May's team she it's in character for her to let it go back to his family because it was the right thing.

3/5

Gulpin it Town - A once busy town has become abandoned because Gulpin have invaded and have been eating non stop, this is actually quite insane. A scientist launches a special giant pokeblock to take care of them. However it isn't enough they go right into the town again as soon as they eat the pokeblock. They manage to get rid of all but one Gulpin by shooting them out a tube. Treeko gets hit by the beam and all of a sudden Treeko and Swalot grow giant! YES SERIOUSLY! That is freaking awesome! Sure I imagine a lot of pedestrians are killed and millions of dollars in damages are done but this is still a pretty awesome fight. In the end the giant gulpin is caught in a Heavy Ball, this episode would have gotten a much lower score if it wasn't for that two second battle.

4/5

Magmaster12 October 2, 2014 04:31:12 PM

Sorry for the delay my keyboard broke.

Exploud and Clear - Our character of the day today is a guy named er well Guy who a really crazy Loudred. Ash uses his Treeko against him who has been more of loner then usual. During the battle both Loudred and Treeko evolve. Wow what are the odds. Grovyle even gets a new bigger twig to put in its mouth. Even worse Exploud goes crazy and runs away. We have a pretty funny flashback of all the terrible encounters Team Rocket had with Loudred only for Meowth to of course convince them to try and catch it yet again. Exploud betrays his trainer during there battle and I can already see where this is going. Of course Guy saves his Exploud from Team Rocket and starts obeying him again. Yeesh even Ash admits this is getting old Team Rocket doesn't even get to do there motto. This episode just got good because of that even though we don't fnd out who wins the battle at the end of this episode which this entire episode was leading up to.

3.5/5

Go Go Ludicolo - Something I never understood as a kid was why episodes with Jynx were banned but this episode wasn't for having Ludicolo be a Mexican Stereotype. But like the situation with Jynx this is just my cultural ignorance, Ludicolo is actually based off of Kappa and other Japanese monsters. This episodes lead in is the same as the previous episode, May and Max talking about how excited they are to return home, Ash says how excited he is to battle his dad and Max calls Ash pathetic and he stands no chance, yeesh that is getting old. Ash is having trouble deciding which pokemon to use. for the gym battle since Ash has already battled Norman this is understandable because he's already battled him. This leads to Ash's pokemon to compete for his affections briefly. Max really has gotten annoying about Ash's battle with Norman I can understand why he'd want his dad to win but yeesh he's a gym leader he should hand out at least one gym badge once in a while. This is foreshadowing though so I'll give the writers credit. Nine minutes in and we finally we see Ludicolo. It''s trainer's name is Pancho, yes seriously and his voice actor is just ethnically accurate. Pancho wants to battle so he can have the groups sandwiches, yes seriously. Pancho ends up wining easily because Ash and Corphish were't in sink, what? Maybe Ash should have believed in the hart of the cards er whoops wrong anime. Team Rocket then shows up to steal Ludicolo because
https://38.media.tumblr.com/ea2f7ee1...vfcuo5_500.jpghttps://33.media.tumblr.com/3bc7682f...vfcuo6_500.jpg however, Corphish has shown up to get a rematch but instead manages to free them from Team Rocket's trap and Team Rocket is defeated and it's the end of the episode. Ash has a rematch with Pancho using Torkoal instead of Corphish it's said he's now able to work better with his pokemon now whatever that means, seriously they've gone over that enough. And for the second episode in a row we have a battle without an outcome how lame.

4/5

A Double Dilemma - Our gang comes across a town with a bunch of trainer obsessed with Norman and his family. Team Rocket scam a part of the town by dressing up like them, hilarity ensues. Ash talking about how he wants to defeat Norman gets challenged by all the towns trainers he wins hilarity ensues. Seriously I'm pretty sure everyone in this town is crazy. May eventually finds her self being forced into battling Ash, however all of his pokemon are completely exhausted. This eventually leads to May using Torchic for once and they fight and defeat Team Rocket. This episode was meh I really had trouble tolerating the town in this episode. My god I'd rather visit Silent Hill then this place, there seriously must be something in this towns water.

3/5

Love Petalburg Style - Out of all of the plots in this show this has to be the weirdest, extra marital affairs!? Really Pokemon? Really? In a kids show about pokemon we have to worry about whether Norman is cheating with Nurse Joy? Really? How about he just save that creepy idea for the fan art. At least we're done with fillers finally because the last few have been really terrible but this one takes the cake. Caroline some how knows who Brock is also. Kenny and everyone else are trying to cover up everything else up and Caroline is angry. I like how May points out that her Max were never allowed to watch there dad's gym battles because he was afraid it would distract the trainers and they weren't bothered by it, and this makes sense after all May never cared too much for pokemon in the beginning. Caroline seriously looks like she's close to leaving. Brock wants to interfere. Yes, Caroline is seriously leaving Norman yeesh how dense can you be Norman? I'm lucky to have parents that are still married but I'm not sure divorce is this common then again he's the only married couple in this show. It turns out Norman was only spending time with nurse Joy so he can make real fireworks, no that came out wrong. Seriously why is a nurse Joy a Professional Pyrotechnition? According to google that's not even a real word! Basically Norman is putting together a fireworks display for Caroline. Of course Team Rocket plans on stealing Norman's pokemon yet again. Well that was ridiculous but was nice seeing a May and Max interact with her family.

3/5

Magmaster12 October 3, 2014 04:43:55 PM

Balance of Power - In this episode Ash finally has his battle with Norman. It starts off pretty good, Brock talks about Ash's strategies and what Norman's is as well. Max continues to be annoying from previous episodes, routing for his dad I can understand why he'd look up to his dad so much but he's still spent a lot of time becoming a close friend with him (see Jirachi movie for example) plus we've never even seen Norman directly talk with Max or give him any of his own attention so this makes it more annoying. Or the fact that Norman is enjoying his battle with Ash and that's acting completely mature towards him. So to have him not care about whether Ash wins bothers me a lot. We also get a random sub plot about how Team Rocket is now building a Hoenn base that will get continued in the next episode. The battle does feel a little rushed with both pokemon knocking each other out twice in the episode. Ultimately Grovyle's Overgrow is activated and he manages to win. However Max is upset and steals his badge then locks himself in his Dad's greenhouse and starts crying. Agh Max never got on my nerves as much as he did here he just comes across to me as a complete brat. However, this steals leads to good characterization I'm not used to seeing the kids in this show act like well regular kids and not like this action came out of no where. Plus this counts as character development so I'm not taking away any points.

5/5

A Six Pack Attack - Why are all the fillers after gym battles always so awful? Our group is meeting up with Prof Birch who is meeting up with Oak. I like how Max is excited to meet him. Prof Birch is apparently a crazy driver in his car, just like everyone in this saga that drives a car. Oak apparently knows who Max is. Oak brought the Kanto starters to the Hoenn lab who are present with the Hoenn starters. And that's the basic point of this episode to Advertise FRLG and RS seriously this episode is based around this one gimmick how pointless. Of course Team Rocket wants to steal the starters. They how manage to get away with them offscreen despite always being around them. Agh seriously? May, Max and Oak travel to the base Team Rocket made in the last episode to free the starters and of course they fail. Once again even though Team Rocket succeeded they spend to much time celebrating and they mange to escape. I do find it funny though how Oak uses a head shot of him posing to trick Team Rocket into thinking they're not escaping, even though that prevents them from seeing anyone besides Oak. This episode is at least saved by Oak coming with clever plans to escape Team Rocket's base. Plus this episode foreshadows May capturing Bulbasaur. Oh man this was episode was still really pointless.

3/5

Magmaster12 October 6, 2014 04:58:50 PM

The Bricker the Better - This episode is probably best known for getting banned/skipper in certain countries for implying that May and Ash are a couple. Let's see if they're missing out on anything good although judging the subject matter probably not. Ash and May get into a big argument with each other because May takes her time and Ash is always in a rush. A couple of two people claim that they're clearly in love despite constantly arguing and challenge them to a Pokemon Tag Battle. It's going to be a Nidoqueen and Nidoking tag battle. Of course May and Ash completely screw up the battle. The couple then challenges Jesse and James to a battle yet again claiming they're a couple and sending them blasting off because even if it's a casual battle they have to blast off. Also this couple is insane all of there attacks are linked with love and all they care about is the same stuff, these guys are like shippers but some how more insane. The arguing between Jessie and Jame and May and Ash continues until they run into each other so James and Ash team up for a tag battle against Jessie and May. I do like how tag battles are shown in this episode, four people using there own pokemon and commanding moves. This episode quickly turns crazy because of Team Rocket, it's actually quite funny especially when Wobbefett randomly sneaks up on Brock. Team Rocket then uses the chaos as an excuse to steal Pikachu of course. This leads to May and Ash able to work together and for him and May to work together well and trust May more and vice versa. I despite the subject matter I really enjoyed this episode for going full on crazy.

4/5

Grass Hysteria - Ash and friends have gotten completely lost in an area with Pokenav reception and the compass isn't even working properly. Seriously is this how compasses work? May then gets kidnapped by a Skarmory. Trivia time, this is the second time a character's been kidnapped by a Skarmory! It turns out May's been carried away to a forbidden land. May then meets a female Bulbasaur. A whole bunch of grass type pokemon are mad at May. Ash manages to come in on a vine Tarzan style to save May. Yeesh last weeks episode got banned for implying Ash and May are couple but this episode seems to imply it even stronger with the way Ash is acting. May's Bulbasaur is interesting it's never left the grass village and its always interested in seeing big cities something that comes up a lot in it's arc. Of course Team Rocket shows up to steal all the grass pokemon. Bulbasaur then decides it wants to go with May last minute almost giving it up, having already said goodbye to Swablu I can understand why she'd do this. I like Bulbasaur so yay new capture.

4/5

Magmaster12 October 7, 2014 04:31:32 PM

Hockey Pokeballs - May and Ash's Bulbasaurs meet in this episode, that's basically the only point of this episode. Also there's a plot where Team Rocket steal pokemon by rigging a transporter device. The rest of the episode is just Team Rocket shanningans and the group trying to track them because you know this is't a job the police should handle.
Also this is the worst trainers choice yet.
http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...-PTC_AG074.png
That is clearly not a Nuzleaf, May even calls out her Beautifly in this episode and calls it by name so I hope someone was fired for this. Although this is is no were ear as bad as an episode later this week. Ash has to send Bulbasaur back because Bulbasaur must be a really bad ambassader if the grass and water pokemon are fighting after only one episode.

2.5/5


Wiscash and Ash - I actually remember the Kids WB promo for this episode, I really wish I could show it because it rymed the whole time and it was really neat. Basically Ash has his badge case stolen for the third time this time by a Wishcash. Ash almost dies from drowning but is saved by our crazy man character of the day trying to catch the Wiscash named Niro. You'd think Ash would use Misty's special lure that she gave him to catch the Wiscash but instead they use the crazy mans lures. This episode basically amounts to lots of fishing. Jesse keeps getting a Feebas biting her hair, being as ignorant as ever she thoughts it out not knowing what it evolves into. Wiscash of course then gets captured by Team Rocket. This is the last time we see a pokemon use Earthquake on the show. Of course Wiscash coughs up the badges. The crazy man tries to catch the Wiscash with a Flaffy only to send out a Master Ball, which has 100% catch rater. However Wiscash eats it and escapes. Heh pretty funny episode because of that crazy guy.

4/5

Magmaster12 October 9, 2014 05:53:01 PM

Me Myself and Time - Our group has become lost in a foggy forest and Ash has been separated from the group. He then comes across a weird woman who then disappears. Ash then attacks a random girls Baltoy. The girl is looking around the forest for artifacts who hopes to be an archaeologists despite her parents wanting her to be a doctor. She's in the forest because she got a phone call asking for help from this lady Ash saw earlier. Team Rocket almost does there motto twice in order to get the lady to hand over the artifacts in the area of course they're soon defeated. This episode is basically about this girl there is no reason at all for Ash to be present here. It turns out the woman in this episode is actually the girl from the future! um what? Still this episode is no where near as bad as the next episode in this show that uses time travel, or the other one I'm gonna cover next. I like how once Ash regroups with everyone they ask if he wants lunch before they rush off, even though the sun is clearly setting.

3/5

A fan with a Plan - All right it's time for another contest this time it's one that requires someone to have earned at least one ribbon. Drew comes across a bunch his fangirls (seriously they're drooling over him) only for him to reject them. Of course the fan girls are also in love with May since she's well known because her dad is a gym leader. One of the fan girls is the usual rival of the contest. Ash is jeliosu of all the attention May is getting which is pretty understandable because in Hoenn alone he's trained a lot harder then May. It's revealed the coordinator of the week is actually a homemaker with a daughter. I like how Brock is able to relate with her for taking care of a family and she tells Brock that with his skills he could meet plenty of woman, lol. This is the famous Arbok evolve into Seviper episode by the way. May of course let's all the fame she's getting from her f an girls get to her head which will play a role in the next episode. Jessie is mad about being unable to enter the contest without a ribbon so she steals Savannah's and May's ribbons, I like how James and Meowth are completely bored by this knowing it won't benefit them. I already know what's going to happen so I'm going to wrap up here. It's a really good set up for May's character development.

4/5

Cruisin for a Loosin - Yeesh 4kids thanks for the spoilers. May seems quite confident sbout winning the contest this time. While Drew is acting as cool as usual and tells her to forget what she's won and think about the future. This is really smart advise because May is clearly over confident. Of course Drew, May and the coordinator of the day get through to the next round. And gasp May has to of course battle the character of the day. It annoys me a lot May is using Bulbasaur for this contest, a pokemon she just caught and barely trained with over her starter who still is yet to participate in a contest! May gets mad at Ash for trying to offer advice because May believes she knows what she's doing, I've been there before I admit. I also like how Brock is clearly concerned while Drew gives an I told you so face. Of course Drew makes it to the next round. Bulbasaur seeing a big crowd for the first time makes her nervous after seeing May get mad at Ash. The judges are quite mad at May over her lack of concern for Bulbasaur and she ends up loosing. Ash and May have a conversation over how May was kind of right and May has also clearly learned a lesson again this marks a good turning point for her character along with her contest loss until the grand festival. Drew ends up winning the whole contest being one ribbon away from the grand festival, we actually won't see him for quite a while after this.

5/5

Pearls are a Spoinks Best Friend - According to Spoink's pokedex entry if it stops bouncing it dies, I think the one in this episode must be some kind of zombie. Basically the plot of this episode is that the group needs to find a Spoink's pearl or it will get really tired, it uses whatever it wants to be it's pearl and hilarity ensues. They find the pearl only to fall into a pitfall and of course get away with the pearl again. They then search for Team Rocket in a circus, where James meet the Magikarp salesman that ripped off James eight seasons ago who offers Jessie a Magikarp painted to look like a Feebas for the pearl only for it to never be seen again. Brock does the smart thng and has his Mudkip use Water Gun on another painted Feebas from a distance. Agn aside form the return of the Magikarp salesman this was a pointless episode.

2/5

Magmaster12 October 10, 2014 04:59:22 PM

That's just a Swellow - This episode introduces Pokeringing, I can basically describe it as Quidich but you command a flying type and the rules actually make sense. Ash and May plan on entering with there flying types along with James who grew up getting trained by a master. The winner gets an honorary citizenship of the town, wow! Ash's first battle is with last years winner, Volt who uses a Volbeat. Er Really? Volbeat is one of the worst pokemon and you really expect me to believe it can beat a bunch flying types out of all the other ones? Although it does have pretty strong Thunder. Ash's Tailow manages to win this round by using its speed. While James manages to win by using strategy beating May by using her Beautifly's attack. Ash seems to think James is up to something but in fact the rest of Team Rocket are pulling off there own scheme. Ash makes into the finals while the character of the day loses to James, they're trying to make a serious threat out of him. I like the moment in this episodes when Meowth wants James to return to base but he refuses because he wants to honor his master. However Ash ends up winning when his Tailow evolves.

4/5

Take this house and Shuppet - This episode has a really weird intro in tries to be all deep about the world and stuff which has nothing to deal with this episode. Basically Team Rocket is now in a mansion and every time they start arguing a light comes and absorbs there anger or something. The group is also lost and because it's raining they also decide to break into the mansion. Max wonders off from May after they get into an argument and befriends a Shuppet. Max soon discovers that May is still mad at her so him and Shuppet are pulling jokes on the group. I like how May pulls Brock away from a pretty lady because Max isn't here. Basically the lady is trying to get people to renovate the haunted mansion into a hotel but people keep getting scared away. Yeesh Hoenn has a lot of mansions and rich people the more I think about it. Max sees Torchic looking for him and he changes his mid and realizes May really does care for him. May changes her mind as well when she finds out Max is defending Torchic. This what I really like about this episode it's a real sibling relationship with May and Max. It turns out the Shuppet befriended the woman as a child and alls well is end well.

4/5

kakashidragon October 12, 2014 02:14:27 PM

You on season 8 yet? Im sorta re-watching the anime, and season 8 is whats left of the anime i didnt watch.

Magmaster12 October 12, 2014 02:21:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kakashidragon (Post 295979)
You on season 8 yet? Im sorta re-watching the anime, and season 8 is whats left of the anime i didnt watch.

Next Monday is when I'll get to season 8, if you want to watch at my pace, I've been watching all the episodes off Boomerang so if you want to watch it on your own you can.

Boomerang is actually going to start over after airing Season 8 so when I'm done with it I'm going back to my erratic schedule however instead of Season 9 I'm finally going to sit through all of Pokemon Chronicles and those Pikachu shorts I never reviewed.

kakashidragon October 12, 2014 02:26:09 PM

Season 1 i watch on netflix.

Magmaster12 October 13, 2014 04:57:14 PM

A shroomish skirmish - Our heroes are traveling through Shroomish forrest. Torchic is upset with Corphish for eating all his food, Corphish being a complete jerk starts a huge brawl. This basically is to showcase how Torchic has become a lot more competitive and careless like May instead of a complete ditz. Team Rocket then creates chaos by eating Shroomish's apples. However once May's Torchic settles down it starts crying it's a pretty good showcase of its inconsistent personality. The Shroomish Team Rocket stole from evolve into Shroomish just so they can fight off Team Rocket. I like how when Team Rocket runs into the group they eat all there lunch then do there motto only to be attacked by the Breloom. Everyone then gets blasted off and separated by there attack. May is lucky enough to end up with Mudkip who uses his radar to find the group. I like how Ash and Brock are forced to run away from Breloom, when Ash tries to battle him they start punching him before he can send out a pokemon. They run off a cliff but are saved by Brock sending out Forretress to use Rapid Spin PHYSICS!! While Corphish wants to challenge the Breloom Torchic stands in front of him and evolves into Compusken. Combusken actually manges to use new moves to take out one of the Brelooms by using the most 4kids friendly version of close combat, though to be fair this battle does get pretty brutal. Team Rocket is taken out and it's the end of the episode. Great episode seriously and I love May's Combusken who will be around until the end of this saga.

5/5

Unfair Weather Friends - Our group comes across a Castform whose owner is the owner of the weather institute. Brock flirts with his assistant but stops in the middle, foreshadowing! However it's time for Team Aqua to show up who are trying to extract the data on Groudon and Kyogre. The data requires a special card the owner gave to Castform. It then turns out the woman WAS A MAN BABY, Brody that Team Magma guy who used a Ditto which was why Brock didn't fall for him and manges to get away with the info. Once I think about there was seriously no reason for him to become a woman though this plot not that there's anything wrong with that. However it turns out there really is a female assistant and we know she's legit now because Brock flirts with her. Oh consistency, this is the second last Aqua/Magma episode and it's probably the best one.

4/5

Magmaster12 October 14, 2014 04:38:00 PM

Who's Flying Now? - Our group has entered Forrtree City where Ash's next gym battle is, I really like how there are treehouses in this town like in the games. However of course Winnona isn't present because she's at the town's festival, Ash being impatient as ever has to run back. Winnona is actually found giving out rides on her giant Skarmory and after Ash rejects him for a battle now he's totally okay with this, agh this pattern is getting old. We then get 5 second montage to song me and pokemon. Then another random montage after a Team Rocket interlude, this is two years before they'd release the ten year anniversary soundtrack by the way. I like how some of the pokemon go through a haunted house and Skitty is the only one who doesn't get scared. Clearly May's Skitty is the work of poke-satan. We also get this subplot of James looking for a Chimecho and yet again falling for the magikarp salesmen's tricks. Of course soon Team rocket has to attack the Carnival, to bad I don't care like all the other time they attack also James managed to get an actual Chimecho who knows heal bell. However of course they're defeated anyways and the gym battle will now have to happen tomorrow

4/5

Sky High Gym Battle - All right it's time for Ash's gym battle against Winnona and starts off by using Altaria. Ash being stupid sends out Grovyle. We also get this moment with Team Rocket and this happens.

Yeah that was so out of context I had to post it. Ash manages to catch Altaria and OHKO it, that's pretty weak and I seriously challenge anyone in ORAS in try to take down Winnona's Altaria with a Grovyle. Winnona then sends out Pelliper and ash switches to Pikachu this should be a OHKO but instead Pelliper uses steel wing as lightning rod. AGH Really Writers Really? I really hate cheap gimmicks like this after such an unbelievable ko's. These Team Rocket interludes are eating up a lot of time, we have them do the motto only to immediately get blasted off by the already attacking Pikachu completely unnoticed. :roll: Although Brock and May's reaction to a sudden shooting star is priceless. Pelliper manages to use Steel Wing and Hydro Pump and the same time and both end up unable to battle agh this battle is feeling really stupidly rushed now. Of course this is all to lead into a battle between Winnona's Shiny Swellow vs Ash's Swellow, Ash's Grovyle's speed is no match for Swellow's Aireal Ace because it can't miss. The battle between Swellows is okay but it's hard to accept how many attacks Ash's Swellow can take.

4/5

Magmaster12 October 16, 2014 05:03:38 PM

Lights Camerupt Action - Unlike previous fillers after gym battles this one is actually quite good. The group runs into a man with Camerupt who uses it to transport movies to small towns that don't have a movie theater and since they're going down the same road they decide to travel with him so they can see the latest Plusle and Minun movie. As a critic I must immediately judge a movie like that as stupid kids pander. They have to do a lot of dangerous traveling with the Camerupt present, that's basically what happens in this episode a lot of traveling. The camerupt guy even talks about how everyone got so excited when he came to town and a little girl wrote him aa note asking when he would return. Yeesh the pokemon world has telaportation technology you'd mostly everyone in Hoenn would at least have a DVD player. We also get this flashback of Ash talking about when he first saw a movie as a kid, and we see chibi Ash and chibi Gary. It's funny how the movie they're watching is actually an adaption of a famous pokemon humor manga that's still going to this day. http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wi...ocket_Monsters
Brock talks about before he left on his journey he saw a western with pokemon who use Relicanth as Water Gun to attack each other. Max talks about seeing a kaiju like movie with a Giant Meowth. While May talks about some sort of Titanic in space with Natu and Xatu, you'd think since those pokemon can see the future they'd see that coming. Seriously all these movies are awesome I love these ideas and they bring why so many movies are so important to us. Being the film buff I am I really really enjoy this episode already. They eventually arrive in the village and help set up. However the movie screening is interrupted by a Team Rocket attack, agh and steal the projector yeah seriously you needed a conflict in this episode so badly!!? We have Brock try to distract the audience by doing Brock's paradise yet again which is a pretty funny reference. Of course they get the movie back and it's then end of the episode despite the pointless Team Rocket interlude it was still enjoyable.

5/5

Crazy as a Lunatone - Hey it's the return of the pokemon mystery club from Johto, this time they're trying to catch a Lunatone. Brock notices there's something different about the Nurse Joy in the town. While eating dinner Lombre is captured by the Mystery Club claiming it's an alien, heh. Basically Lunatone was attacked by the PMC and uses its power to convince Nurse Joy to heal it. The group and Nurse Joy gets the Lunatone past PMC by claiming they're having a moon party and put it some cart thing so it can see the full moon. I like the PMC in this episode they're really funny how they just accept this alibi. However this soon turns into a battle between PMC and Team Rocket. Of courser PMC and Team |Rocket get defeated and Lunatone is able to leave.

4/5


The Garden of Eaitin - This is the first episode that showcases May love of food which will be a running gag for the rest of the show. They go to a Slakoth amusement park only to find it empty. May thinking with her stomach goes in anyways with the group.Basically the place has been taken over by Snorlax who taken control of the area and created Earthquakes. They try fighting the Snorlax and it does nothing even Team Rocket fails of course. Oak suggests feeding the Snorlax a special PokeBlock. One of Slakoth volunteers to battle Snorlax so it can evolve to Vigoroth who has Vital Spirit which prevents it from falling asleep. Of course the plan works and Snorlax is caught. Disaster averted, May gets her just desserts while Snorlax gets used as a special attraction for helping people rest. Because this episode is running short we also get this random moment post last scene where Team Rocket fantasize new uniforms for some reason.

4/5

A Scare to Remember - Pikachu gets amnesia and it joins Team Rocket, a lot of people hate this episode a lot but I actually kind of enjoy despite my hatred of all things based around Team Rocket. The first half of this episode is the group looking for Pikachu while Meowth befriends an amnesia (and quite stupid) Pikachu, problem with this is the fact that we had something like this back in the Orange Islands minus the amnesia stuff but it's still pretty boring. I mean Meowth feeling guilt and questioning his actions it's all been done before. Meowth meets up with Team Rocket and convince Pikachu he's part of Team Rocket and that Ash and the group are evil. Ash doesn't take the news well but he refuses to give up. This is what I like about this episode even if it is for a few minutes it's a really good showcase of Ash's character and I like this a lot better then Goodbye Pikachu because it showcases this, Ash isn't super perfect he completely refuses to give up, sure the amnesia trope is incredibly cliched but I like this episode for showing that.

4/5

Magmaster12 October 17, 2014 05:37:20 PM

Pokeblock, Stock, and Berry - Our group has already entered Lillycove City and Ash is starving! Also there's going to be a contest, kind of funny since they never brought up a contest in Lillycove before. Pikachu then uncharacteristcly runs away from Ash to go to a berry market. Ash ends up eating a sour numel berry, get used to gags like this they still reuse these jokes today. Come to think of it this the equivalent of having a man give out free samples of dog treats to people yeesh. It's here we meet May's contest rival of the week Kelly who uses a Grumpig. It's a pyschic type so it's clearly going to be op. I like how James compares Grumpig to Jessebell. Turns out Kelly's family owns a Pokeblock store. While May makes PokeBlock Ash decides to run out to train Swellow Aireal Ace. That's basically what happens in this episode. All of May's Pokemon hate her Pokeblock except for Beatifly. Of course Team Rocket then has to show up to steal Grumpig. It's here decides to FINALLY use Combusken in a contest. The contesrt begins at the end of the episode and before it can even star Ash decides to walk out to get back to training Swellow, great friend Ash, seriosuly May ends up being the first one out. We then get a weird cliff hanger were Combusken's fire spin is out of control! However that tension doesn't matter at all because May messes up in the appeals round of every contests and she still manages to some how get to next round. Will May finally fail? Will Swellow master Airial Ace? How will Chimecho's performance go under Jessie? And when will we find out what's in the GS Ball? Turn in next time same poketime same pokechannel, and by that I mean as soon as I'm done typing this.

4/5

Lessons in Lillycove - Wow I can't believe it Combusken couldn't control it Fire Spin and not only did May not get to next round Combusken's Fire Spin went so out of control it incinerated the entire contest hall, killing everyone inside including Brock, May and Max leaving Ash standing outside the hall alone in his travels. Nah I'm just kidding. Can you imagine? The appeal is actually quite impressive Contesta being a the Simon Cowell of the group gives May a significantly lower score for almost killing everyone. I do take issue with this happening, May seems to barely train her pokemon and it seems like every time May screws up from her lack of training she manages to win anyways and to be honest that's really annoying that makes her a Mary-Sue, her rivals are almost always better and have there attacks well thought out. Heck Kelly mentions it took months for her to come up with Grumpig's appeal she spent months training with just one pokemon! And guess who's going to win this episode anyways?Jessie has Chimecho use heal bell and I sear to god Mr.Suziko voice turns into Tristans from Yugioh abridged. She then makes Chimecho use Extrasencory and by surprising everyone she gets a perfect score. Really? If May got killed by Combusken I bet she'd get a perfect score as well. May of course manages to beat Jessie. Of course Kelly and May end up in the finals oh and of course Swellow masters Aerial Ace just as the final battle starts so he can watch. It's battle between Grumpig and Combuskenm, Chicken and Bocon if you will. This is also a contest battle of whats to come, a good strategy while keeping the moves beautiful while the opponent should have easily won if not for the timer. I do like how May helps out Grumpig out the end as well so I guess that's why she deserves the ribbon.

5/5

Magmaster12 October 19, 2014 12:08:05 PM

Destiny Deoxys
http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...M07_poster.png The world of pokemon opening in this movie is weird, I think this movie was released in 3D in theaters so we get all these awkward 3D cuts in the intro. It's still amazing there are a lot of pokemon and detail in this one. We even get to see a bunch of scenes from the previous movies that I imagine would look great, if I could see this movie in 3D. Seriously not only was this movie never in american theaters it was the first to debut on tv and only one on Kids WB. The movie starts with a meteor in space that crashes into what I can guess is the pokemon world equivalent to Antarctica. This leads to a boy named Tory to almost get killed by a stampede of Spheal line pokemon. A Deoxys comes out of the meteor with some sort of green stone thing only to be attacked by Rayquaza. This battle is simply amazing probably one of the best in the series I can't even put it into words. Rayquaza manages to turn Deoxys back into a Blue stone while the group a researches present during the battle take the other green stone er crystal. The group have arrived in LaRouche City a town known for gadgets where Ash plans on battling in the battle tower, it also has a group of annoying Plusle and Minun and a.... Munchlax! Yep it's almost Gen IV already. This also the city where Tory and the crystal researchers are. LaRouche City looks really awesome with all the gadgets, robots and even moving sidewalks. Ash gets trapped on a movie sidewalk where we meet even more movie side characters, an ace trainer, a fat guy that flirts with May, twins and a girl for Brock to flirt with. Well at least each of them have character. Through sheer coincidence Ash enters the battle tower with Tory who doesn't even have any pokemon yeesh this is pretty pathetic. Also a huge shame since would have been awesome to see Ash team up with a Metagross trainer. Of course the battle ends terribly because Tory is now really afraid of pokemon. The group ends up having lunch with the lead female researcher, I like how the dub has Brock mention how he worked for Ivy guess he got over his fear of her. We then get a good moment where even though Tory is afraid of pokemon he tries out Minun after seeing it trapped in a garbage can. The group then decides it would be best if they helped Tory, completely forgetting about the Battle Tower. Tory apparently befriended this weird light thing, he just randomly talks to it and it interacts with him some how. Ash tries to help out Tory but it get to the point where he almost beats him. Yeesh Ash way to almost beat up a seven year old. We then get these random bits of Deoxys looking around. Our group then meets back up with the extra movie side characters. We then get a montage of everyone playing with there pokemon and just like that Tory has gotten over his fear. Regardless I do enjoy this character arc and it doesn't feel rushed. Tory decides to introduce everyone to his plumbob light thing. Oh no now Rayquaza has returned! Maybe it wasn't a good idea to bring that crystal to a largely populated area? Deoxys messes with all the tech in the city and everything is shut down. Deoxys then creates clones and carries people away for clouding its vision. It then puts a giant barrier around the city locking everyone in and out to prevent Rayquaza from getting through cutting off the wind power as well. Yeesh that is a huge plot dump in two minutes after ending another. Also one the movie side characters gets taken away by Deoxys, oh well. Apparently the only people a a still stuck in the city are the group, I do like how they've been consistent about May's wacky picture. Apparently this power outage even prevent people from sending out or recalling pokemon, the tech of the pokemon world still makes no sence. The pace if the movie then takes a sudden halt. It's then revealed the green crystal is part of deoxys. So they need to fire a beam at the crystal in order to bring back to life Deoxys' friend but first they need to get the turbines working again. But now Rayquaza has broken the barrier! The character have had such a little effect on the plot this movie is beginning to feel drawn out and boring. The Ace Trainer guy then gets captured on purpose so he can be at the power plant to help out and of course everything comes to according to plan. So the movies over now right? WRONG, this movie is twenty minutes longer then the last ones since this one has no Pikachu shorts as well as the following seven. The battle between Rayquaza and Deoxys continues until the other Deoxys protects Rayquaza from an attack. BUT that still isn't the end because now the cities security robots go insane, and rather then leave the citie the fight between Rayquaza and the two Deoxys continue. This is really getting old now. Really this robot just apparently can only be stopped manually of course. Tory is the only one who can do it and he most conquer his fears finally or now become afraid of all technology. Where the heck do all these block robots even come from? However that doesn't matter at all because Ash just takes care of this on his own with Tory's pass by getting through lol physics. Deoxys then uses psychic making this the second time he's done this. It appears everything is back to normal, Tory takes in the random Plusle and Minun and everyone goes there separate ways. This movie is good but at times the pacing feels way off this understandable since it's a lot longer then previous ones but the next movie will be MUCH better then this and I'm very excited for it.

4/5

Magmaster12 October 20, 2014 04:37:24 PM

Judgement Day - Since we can't have Ash go to Mossdeep City so soon the group ends up getting onto the wrong boat. They run into a trainer who owns the evolved forms of all three Kanto Starters. The trainer is training to become a pokemon battle judge. This entire school seems pretty pointless since we've seen plenty of robots act as a battle judge so the job will become about as relevant as paper now is. Of course Team Rocket has to come in to realize how to take advantage of this huge gimmick. In order to help train the character of the day Brock and Ash have a double battle, this gives us a good perspective on the role of judges. We then get an explanation how the trainer got all his starers. It's then revealed that the only badge Jimmy got a Cascade badge for helping Misty's sister clean the gym, that's a pretty funny reference. What really helps the episode from becoming to gimmicky is Jimmy, he gets by on his dumb luck but lacks confidence that's pretty good. And of course Team Rocket decides to capture Jimmy's pokemon. Although if Jimmy has never won a battle how the heck did his Warturtle evolve? It's then explained that luck isn't what should choose your destiny it's you. I really like this moral. Jimmy's Warturtle evolves and is able to take out Team Rocket. Jimmy is then asked to leave the institute because the professor believes he would be better off to be a trainer to never be seen again.

5/5

______________________________________________

Clampearl of Wisdom - Why I'd put that line there? Because this is the start of a new pokemon season and I want to keep it separate. First I love the theme song to this season, a lot, I really really love it and I think there will never be any topping it. Also this was the first time many of us in the US saw Weavile, Lucario and Mime Jr. a pokemon James won't even catch until next seasom. The group then comes across the same Spoink they came across last time, who just happened to be hopping on a log, in the middle of the ocean. :jchan:
This time the pearl can't be recovered because it falls into the ocean. We then get a bunch of gags from the last episode. It's discovered a Spoink's pearl comes from Clampearl. Spoink then steals this blue pearl. Of course Team Rocket planned on stealing the pearl. However Spoink's Pearl ends up getting switched with a pink pearl. This seasons trainers choice is different because this season they hired an actual credited person to do this, yeesh 4kids. When the group finds the Clampearl with the blue pearl but Team Rocket ends up coming in of course and stealing the clampearl although to the episodes credit this moment is pretty funny. This leads to some funny moments of seeing Team Rocket trying to get Clampearl to open up to get the pearl. Of course the battle goes well and all good now.

2.5/5

Magmaster12 October 20, 2014 06:41:17 PM

Here's my review of Advanced Challenge.

Character Analysis    

Ash makes only one capture and has two evolutions this season but that's a lot more then what happened at this point in Johto. Unlike Johto we also see Ash training things like new moves and getting into a lot of random battles as well. While did complain about cutting off Ash's battles at the end of the episode it's probably for the best because we can't have Ash win every battle because then this show just turns into Yugioh where there is never any tension at all. His battle with Flannery was probably my favorite this season because he overestimates her for being a rookie but learns not to underestimate. His best moment this season was easily a scare to remember, this showed the lengths Ash would go for Pikachu even if it betrayed him in some way this showed off how determined he is no matter what even when it comes to battles. That's about it Grovyle and Swellow may have evolved this season but it doesn't seem to effect there character to much. We get the introduction to Torkoal who is basically a cry baby and leads some memorable moments and it was nice to Ash encourage another pokemon to be more brave. So far this season had some great moments for his character but next season this continue.
May - May three contests wins this season and a lot of character development. First I have to admit her first two wins were a fluke, the scoring for her first ribbon was incredibly inconsistent and her second was because of luck. It's clear she wants to train her pokemon for contests but she's always unprepared but manages to come out anyways. It's not like that doesn't come back to haunt her when she gets her first loss this season. This is where her overconfidence clearly came from, she decided to use her bulbasaur she's barely battled with but let's her fame get to her head and it's probably her best loss in Hoenn. Seeing her interactions with Drew during the contest and how they contrast from one another was also great. Other then that she just continues her her role of being the girl, Max's sister and the travel lover. Torchic evolving was the big turning for her character, she now had a powerful battler on her team who was also confident and in a way the change of character in it is the same as May, by this point she's clearly aware of what she's doing a majority of time which I feel her third was well deserved. Skitty gets a lot of screen time this season but it will make less and less appearances as the season goes on, it's basically really ditzy that's the joke it never really changes which is probably the reason it won't be part of the next saga. May's Bulbasaur was also a great pokemon who had an interesting arc of never being in the city and being completely unprepared for battling leading to May's second loss.
Max - Max continues to play role as a supporting character in this season, he gets his second official pokemon battle and ends up winning and learns how despite being a trainer he should be happy he's able to travel. A huge part of Max's arc this season was seeing his dad lose to Ash, I know I should be annoyed by this but they've made it clear Max strongly looks up to his father. It is pretty annoying though since this makes it seem like he cares very little for Ash but hey he's a kid I can understand why he did it. His best moment this season is probably in Take this House and Shuppet where him and May get into an argument and while they may argue Max comes to terms that May really does care for him deep down.
Brock - Brock didn't even get an episode devoted to him this season so he barely did anything. He had a role in helping out with his own pokemon and getting his ear pulled by Max and that's about it. Oh his Lotad evolves into the more fun loving lombre that's a thing. Oh and my favorite moment would easily be when Brock is told by a mother that he would be a great lady's man for being so good at care taking. But yeah that one moment is probably it.
Team Rocket - Nothing really changes with them this season either. Jessie enters contests and tries not to cheat but fails anyways. James enters a PokeRinger contest and fails. Meowth's random fantasies continue. James captures a Chimecho which may seem fun but is very bland and adds very little for the time it's with James.


Overall Review    
Overall Advance Challenge was a continued step in the right direction. We have good character development, plenty of evolutions and less cringe worthy fillers like the ones from Johto and some really great gym battles. The only thing that bothers me would be May's first two contests wins they were basically flukes. It feels like they try to make up for this by having her loose one but the damage already feels done. However there are still some great episodes, fillers included it's a continued step in the right direction   


4/5

5 To Watch
Pros and Con Artists
Poetry in Commotion!
Lessons in Lillycove
Cruisin for a Loosin
Lights Camerupt Action

3 To Skip
Cheer Pressure
Hockey Pokeballs
Pearls are Spoinks best friend

Magmaster12 October 21, 2014 04:33:55 PM

The Relicanth Really Can - And the string of terrible fillers continues, this one is about Relicanth. Something to note even though they show Ash's badge case in the title card 4kids edited out the pokeball logo on the badge case since the beginning seriously I think 4kids hired people to edit this stuff to meet some sort of staffing requirement for tax reasons. Basically they run into a random diver who is looking for treasure. The group then decides to go on a sub voyage with the character of the day and we see a bunch under water pokemon. Well as much as when this show had an awful animation budget. Team Rocket decides to attack them, marking the first time they murdering the group, seriously there's little to no reason for them to attack right now what a bunch of psychos. They eventually get knocked into the boat the character of the day was talking about, in a cave, with air and naturally occurring light. Even main characters point out this plot whole. Well they say there's glowing moss in the cave but we don't even see it in fact there's no difference in light at all. It's episode like this that make me appreciate how much better the animation is today. Team Rocket shows up and destroy the ship and get attacked the Relicanth. What a boring episode.
Looking around I found this quote on this episode. This is true this is a very very boring episode and this random stranger almost killed them. Team Rocket stole the treasure apparently and this leads to another battle with them getting the treasure. The treasure is actually a bunch of green shards of course because that's a general rule of find treasure in fiction, you either loose the treasure or it's junk. Also we get some random moral about protecting the ocean I don't care. What a boring, boring episode.

1/5

The Evolutionary War - You know this isn't easy, it REALLY isn't. It's one thing to have one bad episode but 3 Bad episodes, in a row! I'm watching this live so I don't give into the temptation to fast forward and it is really really hard. This episode basically copies the idea of one the worst Johto fillers whichever way the wind blows except with Clamperl evolutions. Seriously 4kids you're going out of the way to edit the badge case and the horrors of Japanese food in every episode you can't prevent the children from being exposed to this kanji.
http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...BC_Islands.png
Apparently everyone on this island fights a with each other. We see Birch who is researching what's going on. We also get these two random kids competing with eachother and wants tp find out which Clampearl evo is better but of course they're both strong! We also get a Trainers Choice that even 4kids couldn't screw up.

http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...-PTC_AG095.png
Team Rocket also appears and the two random kids become friends then have there Clampearls evolve. What a boring, boring episode I'm calling the last this trio as three to skip already these episodes were all terrible and if I get another moment like this I'm going to need a brake. I swear the next episode better be much better then this especially since the nonfillers coming up are also terrible.

1/5

FORE THE LOVE OF ARCEUS SKIP THE FIRST THREE EPISODES OF THIS SEASON

Magmaster12 October 23, 2014 04:31:14 PM

Training Wrecks - The group have reached there final stop before Mossdeep City, it's an island with two giants rocks that looks like a giant bicep. This island is inhabited b nothing but a bunch of bro type dudes that only care about working out. Team Rocket also lost sub, oh well. All the guys on this island are lifting they're pokemon and using them as gym equipment. This is really hilarious. Man: The key to success in battle is the trainer's strength how can a pokemon triumph if the trainers body gives in? Wow that is stupid. The group decide to join all this training, May reluctantly. Team Rocket also decides to join because Meowth thinks it will help them become body guards. Ash has a double battle with the head of the island. We then cut to Team Rocket and everybody but James is now hating working out the group also seems to be hating this as well and they all end up leaving. The battle in this episode kind of sucked, Ash is unable to land a hit and he does he gets an OHKO this leads to Rocky deciding to leave on a journey and the group leave to go on a boat to Mossdeep City. Or do they!? Nope Team Rocket comes in on crappy disguises even by there standards.
http://www.wolfgnards.com/media/blog...t-mustache.jpg
They reveal themselves imidiatly and Pikachu launches the group and Team Rocket into opposite directions. Now the group is launched off where will they end up!?

3.5/5

Gaining Groudon - The group has ended up on Team Magma's sub! Which just so happens to be entering there secret base. We also see Maxie pre hipster look the group is then caught and asked to stay in the sub. It is then revealed that Team Magma has a Kyogre! Wait really? The Kyogre is freed by Shelly who easily takes out two guards holding staffs. Seriously? This is a powerful ancient pokemon, maybe you should have some sort of clearance or something? It's revealed Team Magma has a blue orb and Team Aqua has red and a Groudon. Seriously? All that set up with teams and all this time they had these ancient pokemon of there own? What? Also Maxie gives us the plot dump by telling the kids. Why? Why? Why? Also Lance of the E4 is undercover to take out Team Agma. Why Lance? Seriously they couldn't use Steven or Wallace? This makes no sense. The Blue Orb goes flying when Kyogre escapes Pikachu absorbs the blue orb. Archie then shows up with his Red Orb to control Kyogre and um well I dunno. Also the animation in this two parter is terrible feel I should mention this. The group then jumps into the water while Ash and Pikachu get captured while the group's saved by Lance's Red Gyrados. It turns out Team Aqua was smart enough to actually catch the people trying to sabotage the team. I like how Maxie said there plan was to end storms and floods with Groudon while Archie admits he just wants to take of the world.

Kyogre then escapes thanks to Team Rocket and Groudon is about to awaken while Pikachu is still out of control! The conclusion will not be satisfying.

3/5

Scuffle of Legends - Archie ends up going crazy thanks to the red orb and plans on killing everyone now. I like how Lance reveals himself and explains why the Red and Blue orbs are so dangerous and Maxie is just like who are you? This is quite funny. Archie ends up bonding with the orb and the terrible animation continues. So much happens in this two parter it should really be a three parter maybe have Rayquaza involved. Nah. Although I have to give credit the performances from Marc Thompson as Maxie and Sean Schemmel as Archie they're quite hilarious to hear. Pikachu ends up unleashing Groudon, seriously Pikachu is the only one doing anything. Archie realizes they were fools to try to control Groudon, all because it aimed a Solar Beam at the ocean. Whatever. Ash decides he wants to stay on the island because he is refusing to leave without Pikachu so everyone else is staying behind as well. There's finally some fighting between Groudon and Kyogre by having them repeat animation with derpy looking pokemon and one shot stills. Groudon distracts Kyogre long enough for the orbs to come off. And that's the end to a terrible rushed arc and end of Team Magma/Aqua. The group is also just stuck on an island as they say goodbye to Lance. This was a pretty terrible way for them to end this Team Magma/Aqua arc.

3/5

It's still Rocket Roll to me - Our group is somehow in Mossdeep City now. I like how Max wants to go to Space Center so the they can see the Rocket launch even though Ash said he doesn't want to wait Max knows we will because Ash is that easily distracted. I love how Max just know how predictable Ash is. The group just happens to come across all the expensive astronaut equipment that that probably cost millions. Although this is pretty funny. It's here the group meets Tate and Liza who are using Baltoy to create zero gravity. They're then told they need to wait for the launch before they can battle so they play in the astronaut training this is a pretty cool moment seeing all this and learning about space technology in the pokemon world. Team Rocket then tries to steal the rocket in another thing I can add to the list of why these people belong in a maximum security jail. Team Rocket ends up launching the Rocket, agh this is so stupid it makes my head explode. Max and Tate manage to take out Team Rocket and land the shuttle. No ASH don't launch Team Rocket off they're defenseless have them sent to jail where they belong! Seriously Ash you don't even deserve Pikachu. Also Tate and Liza's dad goes to space without a hitch and we'll have the battle next episode.

3.5/5

Magmaster12 October 24, 2014 04:12:50 PM

Solid as a Soulrock - This is a really bad gym battle episode. Ash is just asking for trouble sending out the useless Flying/Normal Swellow against the Rock types Lunatone and Solrock. Never mind how big of a role it and Pikachu had in the last gym battle. Also rather then giving us a gym battle Team Rocket attacks even though we easily got a fill on them last episode. The gym battle goes pretty terrible for Ash until Tate and Liza end up arguing with each other. Then No NO NO NO NO NO NO. I hate you Team Rocket go away this episode is not about you. leave now! What is this Kanto? They end up destroying the gym. The capture Lunatone and Solrock with a device made out of unobtanium :jchan: Yes unobtainum it's in the same family of metals as Vibranium, Andomanium and Chrome Digiziod. Of course Pikachu and Swellow manage to destroy the machine, some how putting Tate Liza back in sync. Now the writers basically right themselves in a corner Pikachu and Swellow are constantly taking attack after attack. This leads to one of the stupidest moment in the anime of all time. Ash has Pikachu use thunder on Swellow, it becomes armor and Ash easily takes the two out. Yes attacking his own pokemon had it become armor. SCIENCE!!!! Yeah this is sheer deus ex machina right here. This easily the worst Hoenn Gym Battle and one of the worst of all time, it's just so stupid.

1.5/5

Vanity Affair - Ash is is suddenly overconfident in this episode, although I would be too if my pokemon could go Super Seiyan. I've been holding that joke since I started this marathon it feels good to finally make it. Also the group meets E4 member Drake, this great because we've barely a seen any of the E4 lately. Ash confident as ever gets his butt kicked Drake after going on Drakes boat. Yes Drake has a boat I guess the writers just decided to go play with the idea because of his outfit. Ash sends Grovyle against Altraia yet again and looses yet again. This leads Drake to tell Ash to not become over confident to erase idle thoughts, that's quite a good moral. Of course Team Rocket then attacks and get there butts kicked by Drake's Salamence. Pretty good episode.

5/5

Magmaster12 October 27, 2014 04:26:28 PM

Where's Armoldo - I deleted my summary without saving so I'll be brief. This is typical filler with characters of the day researchers, fossil pokemon Armoldo escapes and refuses to listen, researcher sacrifices life for pokemon Armoldo listens. Also Bulbasaur learns Petal Dance in this epsode so it doesn't even count as a filler.

2/5

A Cacturne for the Worse - Remember how I said I thought Drew was gay? Well I got over that after this episode, this episode saw the introduction of Harley. Harley is um insane just plain insane. Also this is first time I actually thought I'd hear Harley's PUSA actor more on that later. Anyways Harley is offended by May for never hearing of Cacturne, calling it creepy and then saying his cookies were not half bad. Harley then proceeds to take her picture and put a skull and crossbones on it, in the Kids WB version it was a frowny face. May's appeal goes great it also feels well deserved since we've seen her train. Harley easily gets to the next round and wins his first battle, while May also wins. However May is angry because Harley lied about her advice to Harley. They then have there battle in the finals and May gets close to winning. However Harley uses a cheap trick by playing a tape of Max telling Harley a story of May as toddler and how a Tentacuel gethered around May and her mom tried to catch her pretty funny if you ask me. Ash tells May something important he just learned, her head is too focused on revenge Ash reminds her to stay focused on the contest. This leads to May narrowly winning in a satisfying conclusion. This is a contest episode that did everything correct, good rival, good character development and a funny character moment to boot.

5/5

Magmaster12 October 28, 2014 04:20:48 PM

Claydol Big and Tall - This episode is a great comedy filler, for starters the character of the day is very memorable. Basically Team Rocket ends up opening a giant pokeball containing a Giant Claydol who plans laying its wrath upon the land so now they need to get the Claydol near a giant clay pokeball. Team Rocket and the group call truths in order to help each other take out Claydol. We then get wacky hi jinks, Ash dresses up as Eggplant making the second time he's dressed up as fruit. Yet again another trainers choice that is no longer true. The question is which one is a normal type but none of them are now because Togepi and Cleffa are Fairy types.
http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...-PTC_AG104.png
Also Flaffy is misspelled quite poorly. Jessie, May, Meowth and Wobbufett all dress up as beautiful sages to attract the Claydol he ends up rejecting all of them accept Wobbufett it's quite funny. This plan actually manages to work. This is probably one of the funniest episodes so far.

5/5

Once in a Mawhile - Brock's Lombre gets blasted off and meets a Mawhile that's in love with Lombre but he's not into it and Brock badly wants Lombre to hook up.The owner of the Mawhile does ribbon dancing and yes this is just as lame and pointless as you think, although it reminded me of the rainbow ribbon I had as a little kid, Also Team Rocket comes up with a plan steal Mawhile of course. Of course Team Rocket is defeated and Corphish is in love with Mawhile. Also gawd so many AdvancedShipping hints in this episode. So Corphish starts crying then Brock starts crying then Torkoal is crying for no reason at all. This episode is funny but you know what's really funny? The fact that so many would show up to this woman's ribbon show. Team Rocket then attacks to take Mawhile yet again but Lombre is stolen instead causing Mawhile to run off and Brock forced to entertain the crowd yet again. Pretty funny seeing Brock's paradise. I like how Meowth fails to come up with an idea to use Lombre. We then get a random comedy routine between Lombre and Wobbuffet because why not? Of course Team Rocket is defeated and Lombre ends up evolving yay!

5/5

Reuniclus October 28, 2014 04:30:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magmaster12 (Post 296137)
http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...-PTC_AG104.png Also Flaffy is misspelled quite poorly.

Anime spelling: Flaafy
Your spelling: Flaffy
Actual spelling: Flaaffy

Magmaster12 October 29, 2014 05:59:23 PM

I was trying to see if anyone would notice.

Magmaster12 October 31, 2014 01:14:37 PM

Beg Barrow and Steal - Our episode starts off with what else, but our group lost in the dessert, this time there's a Trapinch. The group runs into a attractive lady #301 for Brock to flirt with and her clumsy potential love interest how original. Of course Team Rocket attack yet again. However in the process Trapinch freak out and cause the animation from a whole lot of trouble to be shown again with this time only Ash, Pikachu, Team Rocket and the characters of the day. However the rest of the group soon falls in as well and water floods in leading them to a lake were Pikachu conveniently is. The Trapinch gather at the lake and evolve and it's just in time for them to be capture by Team Rocket. Of course they get broken out and nothing about this episode is original.

2/5

Absol ute Disaster - Basically people in this town think the Absol in the town is leading to bridges braking in town because its the disaster pokemon even though they even state that's not how Absol works. Of course the town hired Absol hunters that are actually Team Rocket of course the group is totally okay with hunting pokemon and basically turn this into another plan to catch Pikachu. There's actually one kid who doesn't beileve because his brother caught an Absol but has since disappeared and is trying to disprove the town. They eventually find the kids brother, he could explain where he's been but it's a long story. It's revealed that he spent time trying to find out what causes Absol to show up, he cares that much but not enough to call once! Brock figures out the Absol is around because the town is about to flood. Everyones pokemon uses a move to move a boulder to prevent the flood it's quite overwhelming and now the day is saved! Of course Team Rocket then attacks but are defeated Absol and all s well. This episode was quite forgettable.

3/5

Let it snow let it snow let it snow runt - The group is going through a snowy area and there's going to be a blizzard soon. However a Snowrunt comes in and it steals Ash's badge case and of course he goes full on OS mode and freaks out going around the pokecenter looking for it, you'd think Ash would keep his badges better protected by now considering how often they've been stolen. We get a pretty funny Team Rocket moment in this episode while Snorunt is giving Ash his badges back one at a time. We also have it established Snorunt is a very strong pokemon and Ash runs out into a potential Blizzard. Like most capture episodes Ash now has to risk his life for the pokemon he just met. Once the blizzard ends Snorunt leads the group back to Ash and he still refuses to give Ash his badges back. However Team Rocket attacks and I imagine you already know where this is going. However Team rocket is slightly funnier in this episode but I'm still annoyed. It turns out Snorunt is refusing to give Ash's badges back because it wants to continue playing with Ash so Ash catches it.

3/5

Do I hear a Ralts? - Max hears a Ralts that is in bad that has a fever and Max wants ti take full responsibility for it. We get a funny Team Rocket moment where Jessie dresses up as Gardevior and Meowth as Kirhlia and James as Ralt's trainer so they can steal it. However Ralts is afraid and May brings out her PokeDex on Meowth not knowing what a Kirhlia is but it comes up as a meowth, pretty creative way of seeing through a trap. The group and Team rocket get into a full on battle with eachother while Ralts is getting weaker. While battling Max is tasked with the job of taking care of the Ralts. This is a good character moment for everyone, Ash is concerned about battling while still caring about Max, May clearly cares about Max's safety while Brock shows his clear mature concern for Ralts. However this leaves Max alone while Team rocket is after him, however Max is unable to do anything and brakes down. However Snowrunt comes and freezes the berries for Max so Max can put it on his head. Soon a Kirhlia and Gardevior appear before Max and he promises to take care of Ralts. I'm guessing the daddy Gardevior is somewhere. Max is left running by himself to the Pokecenter while crappy music plays. Soon the Ralts is all better by the morning. While Max is upset he knows he has to go back but before this happens we have an awesome moment where Max has Ralts use Psychic on Team Rocket. then the real Gardevior and Kirhlia return, while Max is upset he promises to return for it when he's older and a trainer. This episode is PERFECT. Episodes like this are why I started the marathon, wonderful character moments and even great animation, well for this shows standards I loved it.

5/5

The Great Eight Fate - All right the group has arrived in Sootoplis City to battle, er Juan? I feel like they were originally planning to use Wallace since Juan use Wallace's team and he doesn't have any of the personality of Juan from Emerald in fact he doesn't have much of personality to begin with, he doesn't even have a French accent! Juan is just a contest champion like Juan who moves his pokemom gracefully. The gym battle will be 5 vs 5 and start as a double battle. Ash has Pikachu use Thunderbolt but Juan has Seaking's horn drill adsorb with it's Horn Drill. HORN DRILL DOESN'T WORK THAT WAY. Then sends it back yeesh Lightning rod doesn't even work that way. There's now a subplot of Juan dressing up as Juan. Pikachu manages to take out Juan Sealeo by surfing on Corphish however this fails because of Sealeo's Iceball but it manages to get knocked out. Ash moves onto the second round and it's Luvdisc vs Grovyle :lol: if looses I've lost all respect for the anime. Yeah they're seriously going onto a cliff hanger with a battle with a Luvdusc.

4/5

Eight Ain't Enough - Grovyle is now confused and ARE YOU KIDDING ME IT GET KNOCKEED OUT BY ONE WATER GUN A FREAKING LUVDISC WHAT!? There's no way this episode is getting higher then a three now. Corphish manages to take out Luvdisc, some how barely. Corphish is then easily taken out by Wiscash only to loose to Swellow. So now Ash has to battle Milotic, this battle is pretty good as Swellow takes hits until Ash is forced to send out Pikachu.The issue with this battle is that Milotic is able to use recover I can relate to this. Also there's a subplot of Team Rocket dealing Juan's fangirls. Ash has Pikachu use Thunder underwater, it's so powerful it could have killed it yeesh way for them to explain the science of that npw though. Now Ash has his final gym badge and May is off to get her final Ribbon.

3/5

Magmaster12 November 3, 2014 04:27:50 PM

Show Down at Linnone - This is a really great. I like how this episode starts off with Ash determined to train for the League, it really shows how far he's come since the original series. However May's pokeballs get stolen, I like how she immediately blames Team Rocket, however they're in the distance and not responsible but happy they get the credit. Max notices pokemon footprints that lead to the character of the day whose Linoones stopped obeying him when he evolved and it loves stealing round things. I like how Ash compares this to his Charizard nice hearing a call back it makes a good job showing off character development. This leads to May looking for her pokeballs but instead finding a bunch of items from the games because of its ability pick up it's pretty awesome seeing in game items. Also the characters in this episode are incredibly memorable. Team Rocket then tries to kidnap Linoone but insterad ends up kidnapping Pikachu. Brock then points at that the reason Linoone stopped listening to the character of the day is because he stopped playing with it when it evoled. I'm really really happy with this because it avoids cliche without feeling forced. Seriously more fillers need to be like this one.

There 4 kids is now a better speller then me.
http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/th...-PTC_AG112.png

5/5

Who, What, Where, Whynaut? - The group runs into Drew who already has all five ribbons and it's revealed that May's next contest is the last one before the Grand Festival. May and Drew have a practice battle, I like how Ash acts as the referee for this one, something I don't think he'll ever do after this. However before they can have a full battle Team Rocket attacks. sucking up everyone. This leads the group ending up on a desert, Team Rocket are on there own but can't find Wobbuffet while The main group can't find May or Drew who find out they're on Mirage Island. Interesting they've incorporated it I've never even gotten it. Brock decides to find a river and head down its shore. Man this episode has so many contest shipping hints, it also shows off why I like the idea of the two as a couple I believe that if two character get along and also make each other better characters then it works. Drew wants May to be a smarter trainer but is completely unable to rela or enjoy the finer things something May has been adapted to since the very beginning keep in mind May only became a trainer so she could travel. May and Drew end up falling off a cliff but are saved by a bunch of Whynaut. Drew and May wait in the cave for the group. I really like how Drew is a part of this episode it's nice seeing a rival be used for something besides an obstacle and treated more like an actual character. We then get this random cut of Team Rocket out of the blue stealing all the Leichi berries on the island. Of the group is reunited and the day is saved thanks to the love of May and Drew the group and they all head to the next island minus Drew of course.

5/5

Magmaster12 November 4, 2014 04:28:16 PM

Date Expectations - While traveling to the next town the boat breaks down and the best chance May has to travel to the other side of the island to the ferry port to the next island. It's here they run into a Donphan. I like how Ash mentions Phanpy when he sees it, FORESHADOWING. They're all using roll out because it's mating season ew. In the process the group has to run away around the island from them. The bits with Team Rocket trying to capture these Donphans are pretty funny. One of the Donphan's is trying to attract a shiny Donphan I know I should be annoyed by how cliched this episode is but I seriously love Donphan it's one of my favorite pokemon. I like how concerned May is about missing the ferry while the establish she's trying to keep her cool while they make it clear she's actually freaking out. May and Ash get separated from Max and Brock and while Ash encourages May to go on the ferry May refuses. In a terrific moment we get a flashback where May's mother made May make a vow to always watch over Max. This moment is VERY important not only character development wise but also what's to come. This is why May is my favorite companion, even though she may fight and argue with Max she'd put the goal aside she spent the entire saga down the toilet for Max. The Shiny Donphan hooks up with the Donophan they've been following, fortunately Team Rocket shows up (yes fortunately I really didn't want to see Donphan mating) May who is is royally angry as Team Rcoket sends out all of her pokemon to attack Team Rocket and they get taken out easily. And while May no longer be in the Grand Festival at least she has strong pokemon. However Carlos manages to find the group and they're going to get there now and everything has worked out.

5/5

Mean With Envy - The return of the dreaded Jynx with purple skin! Of course I'm surprised purple people weren't offended by this new stereotype I mean this ruins the dignity of the Purple People in Italy in protest of the Prime Minister. Anyways the group has arrived at the island and Snorunt is still trying to master Ice Beam in the process attacking Team Rocket before they can attack for the second episode in a row. Team Rocket's been treated REALLY WELL lately. May meets her rivak who wants her and her "boyfriend" to tie for the contest. The rival owns a Jynx, you know I never realized how creepy it was. Of course because we can't have the contest start this early Team Rocket has to show up again for a full on attack. This pretty much just becomes into yet another Team Rocket battle where May shows off her battle skills. However during this battle Jessie comes up with idea to use Meowth in the contest. The female rival is kind of interesting but the male rival is incredibly bland, Meowth doesn't want to enter the contest but in a funny moment Meowth decides to after seeing a trainer with a Persian. I know they're trying to raise the tension by establishing many last minute coordinators are at this contest but that doesn't feel established when the rival is someone who doesn't even have one ribbon! Also Ash is outside not watching the contest so he can train Snowrunt Ice Beam. The appeals are yet again very rushed but May's appeal is pretty well thought out. Of course all the characters we've met have made it through appeals.

4/5

Magmaster12 November 6, 2014 04:28:18 PM

Pacifldog Jam - Jesse cheats by having meowth switch out costumes by using transform into Sunflora and then a Kirhlia and then a Walelord bah haha that's pretty funny. Jessie is then disqualified for cheating this turns into another excuse for Team Rocket to attack. I like how May puts the rival back in her place in this episode for trying to get her caught up in her drama it's totally how girls usually act. May manages to beat the boy thanks to Skitty's assist. During the battle the girl realizes that because of the battle she realized she was letting her jealousy get the best of her, er right. The battle isn't very good May clearly relies on Skitty's assist too much how every it's pretty clear this all part of her plan to finally get a fire attack last minute, not a lot of this plan makes much sense. Oh well now it's time to have the Grand Festival!

4/5

Berry, Berry Interesting - The group goes to a town with a bunch of berries and Ash eats a Tomato Berry which gives him giant lips, pretty funny. Because the town has so many berries this gives a perfect chance for May to make more PokeBlocks. In this town is a wild Munchlax who easily my favorite pokemon that May owns. Brock is getting some weird Humphrey Bogart reference, I get the feeling I'm one of the ten people who watched this episode and got the reference. Also Ash is atill training Snorunt to use Ice Beam of course. May makes her own Pokeblock May's Purple Surprise and everyone's hate it in a very funny scene. The Munchlax then comes in and eats all of May's Pokeblocks. Also Jesse in disguise enjoys May's Pokeblock because hey it's a running gag. During the pokeblock taste test some pokeblock disappear (obviously because of Team Rocket) The Munchlax is actually accused of eating the pokeblock. May tries to battle Munchlax and fails since it's to tired and is very defensive. Of Team Rocket is then discovered and tries taking Pikachu and of course are defeated. May then tries to capture Munchlax by throwing a Pokeball it eats it but it gets activated and she catches it. Which is weird since the same thing happened last season with Wiscash and failed. I imagine they did this since they didn't know what movers Munchlax could learn at the time and we won't see it use any moves at all until the end of the season. Still a fun episode.

4/5

Less is Morrison - In this episode we meet Ash's league rival, Morrison he has the most annoying voice in all of the dub he's also a pretty annoying character to boot, being a really aggressive battler and also in personality. The battle between his Beldum and Ash's Pikachu ends in a tie. He then runs off after discovering the league is only two months away and has only seven badges. As soon as they arrive at the pokemon center Morrison wants to get there first and everything they do now turns into a competition it's pretty funny. Morrison even sleeps outside in a tree and of course Ash has to as well. Also this episode has been having a subplot with Munchlax eating everyones food it concludes with May getting the Pokeblock Oak fed Ash's Snorlax last season I love May's Munchlax so I can't complain. I love the rivalry between Ash and Morrison, it feels like a satire of how insane shonan characters are with there whole I don't care I'll do it anyways without giving up attitude to the point were they both break through steal and Ash even manages to lift Morrison's far butt off of a cliff. Of course Team Rocket attacks but they don't have any pokwemon but they manage to chase after them anyways, it's yet another showcase of Ash's personality which I love Ash should be more then just a pokemon trainer after all.

5/5

Ribbon Cup Caper - The ship the group is taking to the Grand Festival is very luxurious having a mall and a food court also a place for the group to leave there pokemon to play. Officer Jenny is looking for Broadie who is trying to steal the Grand Festival Cup because Team Magma has of course disbanded. Yeah that's no surprise at all despite how our main characters react. The cup is soon discovered to be a forgery and most likely replaced.Of course our group has to find the thief because these kids are certainly more value then actually officers. However trying to find someone who is a master of disguise is quite compelling. Now Broady is stealing all the Pokemon from the Pokemon Center however of course the captain is actually Broady. We then get a chase looking around for Broady however Broady is kind of a moron deciding to disguise as a person of power drawing attention. However Brock manages to save the day by falling in love with the real Jenny, it's a pretty clever ending. Also the group end up at the Grand Festival.

4.5/5

Magmaster12 November 7, 2014 04:57:54 PM

Hi Ho Silver Wind - It's time for the Grand Festival and May and Max's mom has journeyed to Slateport to see May. She even gets her own hotel room where it's revealed she's stayed in touch with all of her rivals. Over 247 trainers participate in GF and only 64 make it to the next round. Um are you kidding me? 247 is a lot and multiplied by five is 1235! And that's not counting people who missed festival, or couldn't even get all five ribbons. I don't even think Kyushu the region Hoenn is based off of has that many towns! May also runs into Drew and then Harley. Did this show really need to give us a full on butt shot of Harley? Harley tries to win back May's trust again of course. Drew is completely creeped out by Harley it's pretty funny. I like how May admits to him that her and Drew are barely friends. This episode has a great showcase of May's confidence and she's also stupid enough to start trusting Harley again. The group then uncovers James posing as Norman, yet again in order to steal pokemon. Such a good streak of using Team Rocket well ruined but at least it's quick. However this is time that really should have been spent on the preliminaries which are incredibly rushed at the end of the episode. Of course May is able to get through to the next round and decides to go with using silver wind for the entire GF, this plan just screams stupid.

4/5

Deceit and Assist - Harley goes into full on berserk mode with May training acting very crazy while Drew is oddly jealous. We also get a subplot of a character getting his trainer id and ribbons stolen. Also the judges of the contest are the usual ones plus three nurse Joys at once! How creepy is that!? Apparently there's now a second round of appeals I didn't know that. Team Rocket is then discovered by Anthony and Team Rocket has to quickly get away since clearly they can't be arrested. Skitty's appeal consists of only assist which goes nowhere until May goes against Harley's advice and decides to use Double Slap and then Blizzard. Drew confronts May that this was Harley's plan all along it's a great moment between May and Drew. With all the nice rivals we've had it's great seeing rival live up to potential of just being flat out evil and manipulative. Drew tells May to stop listening to other people and to put her trust in her own Pokemon, this also really good moment and terrific set up for what's to come much later on. Drew then manages to get a perfect score for his appeal. Robert from May's first contest also gets a perfect score while everyone else does as well. And wouldn't you know it May has to fight Harley again it's going to be Bulbasaur and Beautifly against Cacturne and Baynette.

5/5

Magmaster12 November 10, 2014 04:20:46 PM

Rhapsody in Drew - May's Bulbasaur and Beatifly defeat Harley quite easily, showing off what a great coordinator she is and that she might stand a chance. Jesse tries to steal Robert's (the guy who beat Drew in May's first contest) but Ash comes by to stop Team Rocket and in the process Snorunt evolves into Glalie master ice beam in the process and defeating Team Rocket. May narrowly beats Anthony to move on to the final eight and now has to fight Drew. This time it is Skitty and Combusken against Flygon and Roselia. While the battle is filled with suspense and May manages to keep an upper hand briefly it's pretty clear she's done a terrific job. The audience even cheers for May at the end for some reason. Drew ends up in the finals but ends up easily loosing to Robert quite easily. During the after party May parts with Drew on the beach and of course her mom is a contestshipper and May decides she won't quit until she's the top coordinator while it's now time for the Hoenn League!

5/5

Island Time - May wins a contest for four airline tickets and of course it's all a trap by Team Rocket. Even though they tried this plan before back and the Orange Islands and it failed! The plain is actually heading straight for TR HQ however they didn't have enough fuel and this episode is going to turn into Lost, hey the joke was topical at the time. Anyways the land on the island unfortunately there's no Abmasnow or Beartic but there is a traveling salesman who has been trapped on the island for months. Brock wants to convert the plane into a ship with fuel from trees on the island. err seriously. I really hate this, I hate how Team Rocket has to be the main source of conflict for every single plot they're basically preempting Ash from his main goal and you don't do that! Team Rocket steals Pikachu and takes off in the ship. However there is no fuel and the ship is destroyed. The wailmer that saved the stranded guy then evolves into Wailord blasting off Team Rocket who can now carry the group and the stranded guy off the island. Too much Team Rocket in this episode and we just had the group stranded on an island a few episodes before and it was just better. On the plus side this episode can be really funny if it's taken out of context and abridged.

3/5

Magmaster12 November 11, 2014 04:22:28 PM

Like Meowth to a Flame - Team Rocket have of course some how escaped the desert island from the last episode. However that doesn't matter because the group ends up getting attacked by a bunch of Murkrow however they are saved by a Meowth trainer, since this is the first league episode I can only guess he's the guy that will beat Ash. He's also cruel enough to dress the Meowth up in a hat and boots. Really 4kids you're trying to pass off Ramen as Chicken Noodle Soup, damn 4kids you so racist. Tyson the Meowth trainer, has to rush off from the group however because he's a torch runner and of course Team Rocket wants to steal it. Mr.Goodshow is present who is now a professor apparently, remember him because he's going to be faced out gradually after this. Ash finds out that Morrison hasn't registered for the league yet. Ash decides his Hoenn pokemon deserved to participate in the league on there own so he's not bringing in his reserves something Ash keeps going back and fourth on in future leagues although I think the writers decided on this since you can't trade between Gen II & III. However as Ash is talking to Oak someone steals the torch and of course it's Team Rocket. Ash manages to get the flame back thanks to his Glalie and ability to jump high enough to make Olympic athletes jealous, seriously its pretty funny. Of course Team Rocket is defeated thanks to Tyson's Meowth and Metagross. It's just another typical league introduction episode, but hey this is the last one we're getting.

4/5

Saved by the Beldum - The episode starts with Ash training and they run into Morrison who still hasn't registered but he now has his eighth badge and is going to be in the league we also meet all of Morrison Pokemon and we get the return of there insane rivalry which causes them to have a race and fall into a pitfall. Agh seriously Team Rocket? That's such dumb luck it gives me headache. However Tyson comes by with his Meowth and Team Rocket's Meowth refuses to let his pride get the best of him. Morrison has a battle with a guy who seems to be in a contest to find out who has the more annoying voice, however Morrison's voice stands no chance once his Beldum evolves into Metang. Tyson's Meowth then has to fight a Persian which appears to have the upper hand however Tyson's Meowth is just more powerful, however Meowth has a blood lust and wants to continue attacking the Persian so Tyson recalls it. It's after this we learn Meowth's back story and why it hates Persians. Ash's battle is Pikachu against Hitmonlee *sigh* what's the point of only using your Hoenn pokemon if you're going to end up using Pikachu? Of course Ash ends up winning quite easily again. So now it's on to the next round.

4/5

Magmaster12 November 13, 2014 04:24:51 PM

From Brags to Riches - It's time for three qualifying battles and they're all double battles. Half of this episode is actually devoted to Morrison's battle I can't complain though since it is pretty good. Morrison wins and then of course Team Rocket traps Ash however he's saved by Team Rocket's boss who wants him to go back to selling stuff in the stands whew. So now it's time for Ash's battle, which is pretty good but it's pretty ridiculous how Corphish is able to take so many attacks and Swalot is just suddenly defeated. Also Team Rocket then gets fed.

4/5

Shocks and Bonds - In the next battle Ash has to go against Clark the Conductor, uses a conductor wand, what a weird guy. Ash is at clear Disadvantage since its a battle between Ash's Glalie and Grovyle and two fire types. Also Clark has a bunch of fan girls watching. Groan, so many music puns in the battle just end it already! However Ash's Glalie manages to pull through and beat Clark's Charizard by getting a critical hit now Ash gets to move onto the victory tournament. We also see Tyson win his final preliminary battle which he wins and everyone is moving to the next round. However tomorrow is a day off, which mean 4kids montage time! Whew that day went by quickly now Ash has a 6 vs 6 battle during this we see Mrs.Ketchum watching while tending to a sick Mr.Mime, Misty watching as she passes by tv, and Tracey and Oak watching as well. The battle will also be on a rock battle field. Ash is battling Katie who switches out her pokemon so her other pokemon can be super effective. For a 6 vs 6 battle this is actually really rushed, but that might just seem that way because last episode was devoted to two double battles.

4/5

A Judgement Brawl - The battle from the last episode continues, now it's a water battle field so it's going to be Corphish against Golduck and looses. However Ash manages to make a comeback with his Swellow. Even though Katie has an advantage with a water battle field and her Walrain Ash manages to beat it with his Grovyle and win. Morrison and Tyson manage to move onto the next round as well. Oh no Morrison has to battle Ash now, and Morrison clearly has trouble with the idea creating a good set up for the next episode. Of course the battle has to begin the episode and Ash has a pretty clear advantage and Morrison can't even get his next pokemon to get an attack and he's paralyzed with his decision on what to do next.

5/5

Choose it or Loose it - Ash manages to convince Morrison to snap out of his funk and the battle continues. While Growlithe is able to be taken out easily Ash gives Morrison a great speech to give him his determination back. The battle between Swampert and Corphish ends in a draw which leaves to a break and Morrison tells Ash he always used to battle for fun until he became determined to have more fun winning, this is great way how they fleshed him out, it's a shame the writers will fully forget about him after this. Pikachu manages to easily lose to Steelix because of course and then Torkoal somehow looses to it but Grovyle manages to beat Steelix so it can now fight Gligar bet taken out by its Guillotine Ash sends out his Swellow. Tt ends in a tie leading to a final 1 vs 1 battle between Metang and Glalie I like how the writers think Ash is at an advantage even though Steel is super effective against Ice and Glalie takes a lot of attacks. At the last second Metang falls and Ash wins to the final eight, farther then he's ever been in a league and now Ash has to battle Tyson. Team Rocket's Meowth gives Tyson's Meowth advice and of course he ignores it gee I wonder who is going to win the next episode? Seriously it's obviously going to be the trainer Ash knows that he will lose to even though Morrison says he'll win.

5/5

Magmaster12 November 14, 2014 04:28:09 PM

At the end of the Fray - The battle with Tyson from the last episode continues and it's even more rushed then the last episode. Glalie and Sceptile are taken out immediately, and the rest are taken out easily as well. And yet the writers decide to insert yet another Team Rocket side plot, plus Meowth has to be established as watching from the stands. The real issue Ash has is with Tyson's Metagross. Ash manages to defeat by focusing his attack on one spot until he sends out Pikachu and it's Pikachu vs Meowth. Also Team Rocket's Meowth decides he likes Tyson's Meowth now without any explanation making these cuts to him kind of annoying. Tyson ends up winning but barely, clearly the meowth was at an advantage though since its boots prevented it from falling over. Ash takes the loss pretty well while Tyson goes on to win the entire league! Even though Ash lost he feels a sense of pride in his pokemon plus he got very close to beating the guy who won the entire league! It's going to take a lot to out do this in the next league. Even though it was rushed the battles in this episode were still pretty good, Meowth vs Pikachu and Metagross were what really grabbed my attention.

4.5/5

The Scheme Team - The episode starts with everyone going separate ways back home, we see Morrison and Tyson one last time. Max and May split ways with Brock and Ash but promise to stay in touch. Team Rocket also goes to the HQ and Giovanni does not care about what they witnessed from Team Aqua and Team Magma and that they're partially why they disbanded. There next assignment is Antarctica and oh man I wish they went through with that, however they run into Cassidy and Bultch on a special assignment even though if you've been following Pokemon Chronicles unlike me you'd now they are just as pathetic as Jesse and James now. Also they get pogo sticks, heh that's pretty funny. We then get a random scene with May and Max at home after which Brock and Ash split ways with Brock admitting this was the best journey ever. Despite being apart briefly Ash finds out he already misses everyone and starts heading home. He passes by the Viridian Gym and runs into an agent Scott only to run into Agatha who is currently the gym leader. It's not revealed why Giovanni is no longer gym leader but honestly in the context of the anime the head of Team Rocket also being a gym leader makes no sense anyways. Ash decides to battle Agatha who hasn't had a challenge in a while so it's his Pikachu against her Gengar. While Ash looses Agatha and Scott are both impressed and Scott reveals she's a member of the Elite Four. Scott tells Ash about the Battle Frontier and it basically works like the Orange Islands, same as any other league but with only one final boss instead. Team Rocket then shows up with a new motto to steal Pkachu however Agatha and Pikachu easily take care of them. A lot happens in this episode but it all feels really natural even with all this set up we even see Ash come home and Misty is present yay! Misty also an Azurill to replace Togepi er Tracey's Marill layed an egg apparently. Also Max and Birch have also arrived, err yay!

5/5

Magmaster12 November 17, 2014 04:34:10 PM

Right Place Right Mime - This episode title is incredibly misleading not only is Mr.Mime not in it there isn't even a regular mime! We have the typical seen of Delia being happy about Aah being home and May comes to the door! We have Max interact with Misty and Tracy while taking care of the starters I like how Max expresses fondness for Tracy for being Oak's assistant. When putting away the Kanto starters Max finds out May is in Kanto as well and one of the Squirtles at the lab likes May! It turns out after May left Max immediately missed May and he joined Birch on his visit to Oak. Ash tells the group about the battle frontier and Delia claims May wants enter contests in Kanto, and Ash asks May to rejoin him and of course Max can join as well. It's revealed May left behind her Beautifly and Skitty at home while we get to meet all of Ash's pokemon again. I really love all of the interactions we get in this episode. Of course however we can't go one episode without a Team Rocket attack however it is a good showcase of all the pokemon, we have a neat moment where Birch decides to help but Delia tells them not to. May decides to leave her Bulbasaur at the lab while Ash leaves his Torkoal and Glalie. Ash and May get new pokedexes while Max gets an updated Pokenav with Battle Frontier data. Also Phanpy rejoins Ash as well as Brock and with Misty also joining the group briefly this creates the point in time where most pokemon fanfiction is written. seriously. I love this episode all the interactions seeing all the older pokemon again.

5/5

A Real Cleffa Hanger - Brock left his Ludicolo with his family while Misty needs to return to the gym before her sisters start handing out badges. The group are on mount moon and they run into a Cleffa. Agh then Team Rocket attacks with a flying vacuum, at least they don't do there motto but of course the machine malfunctions and explodes and Misty, Max and Pikachu get separated from the group I like how they showed that May is clearly concerned. Misty has a really creepy backpack, like someone clubbed a spheal and hollowed it out to become a backpack, how dare you Misty! We get some great interactions between Max and Misty even a reference to Misty's long standing bug phobia. They run off a cliff to land on a very bouncy ground in the middle of a storm so they go find some shelter. The rest of the group manages to find Max and Misty just in time for May to save Max. We also get even more creepy shots of Misty's dead Spheal backpacks, seriously someone should call PETA or in this case PETP. All of the Cleffa, Clefairy and Clefable use Metronome, with May's Munchlax joining in and they're defeated. Misty has to run off to the gym so it's time to say goodbye, because this is probably the last time we'll ever see her. This what the last Misty episode should have been about, Misty interacting with the other characters and establishing her a strong well developed trainer to the group, this would be one of my favorites if it wasn't for that creepy backpack!

5/5

Magmaster12 November 18, 2014 04:39:41 PM

Numero Uno Articuno - Two episodes in and we're already meeting a Frontier Brain. The group spots an Articuno and a man in a plane with it and of course Team Rocket wants to steal it. The group eventually finds a pokemon center where in the morning they meet Scott who will lead them to the Battle Frontier. Scott makes the Crazy Taxi guy seem like my Grandpa when it comes to driving. They meet Noland and stop his crazy machine who is the Frontier Brain, rather then using a group of random pokemon Noland trains a bunch of pokemon and the challenger decides which pokemon to battle. It's discovered that Noland actually saved the Articuno and while it doesn't have a pokeball it likes to be with Noland. While Noland flies Max around in his plane it's revealed Ash made a call off screen, hmmmm. Then Team Rocket attacks because of course, by stealing one of Noland's machines and of course they don't stand a chance against Articuno. At night it's revealed Ash wants to challenge Articuno and that he's called upon Charizard. I like how Max knows about since he did watch him in the league. I really liked this episode it's great set up for a great battle.

4/5

The Symbol Life - There's not much for me to say about this episode, other then the fact that I really like this battle, Charizard vs Articuno Ash has to deal with fighting a legendary pokemon. Although I'm kind of annoyed by the fact that Charizard hasn't learned Blast Burn, a move we just got to finally see recently in the Mega Evolution special but nope instead it learned overheat. Ash goes for the Seismic Toss and manages to narrowly defeat Articuno earning the knowledge symbol. Ash's next challenge is at the battle arena and we say good bye to Charizard. I love this episode easily one of the best battles in the series.

5/5

Magmaster12 November 19, 2014 04:34:47 PM

Hooked on Onix - Fun Fact: the writers can't go one saga without doing an Onix attacks episode for some reason. The group gets separated from a bunch of there pokemon after accidently attacking Geodude resulting in Team Rocket being able to convince an Onix they're evil. We then get a bunch of random moments between the pokemon and they're pretty interesting to watch I guess, but seriously how many times are Beedrill going to attack? Everyone but Ash is soon captured however Ash manages to beat the Onix with his Grovyle. Of course Team Rocket soon attacks Onix because they're incredibly stupid and get defeated. In the end the Onix gives them a ride, where? It doesn't matter because we don't see him in the next episode. This just an average forgettable run of the mill episode.

3/5

Rough Tough Jigglypuff - The episode starts with the group getting trapped by a man who wants to catch a Jigglypuff for his daughter. It turns out he's been trying to catch for six months, taking time off from work and potentially leaving his family homeless just so he can catch this Jigglypuff. Seriously this guy is insane, just tell your five year old no don't spoil your child! Team Rocket shows up only to get blasted off before finishing there motto. Brock tells them to out smart it instead of just chasing after it this fails. They have success when they lock Pikachu and Jigglypuff in a room together and Jiggltypuff manages to fall asleep when it uses sleep. However in the end the dad learns he's going to leave it behind and probably have some serious explaining to do to his wife. He says this because apparently he thinks it was most happy in the forest, I've really come to hate this aspect of the anime, there are so many trainers who caught there pokemon whose to say they didn't do the wrong thing? The dad decides to give the girl Loudred instead however the daughter is still happy the dad is home for her birthday. Oh man I seriously dought anyone who wrote this episode is a married person or even a father. Of course the Jigglypuff decides to come back to be with the daughter, wow that was pretty terrible.

3/5

Magmaster12 November 20, 2014 05:01:10 PM

On Cloud Arcanine - The group runs into Drew who not only plans on participating in the Kanto Grand Festival but already has one ribbon! Drew is trying to catch a wild Arcanine so of course now May wants to catch it as well. Also Team Rocket is now working in a bakery run by there boss from the Pokemon League for some reason and of course they're immediately fired. Well that was pointless. Of course now Team Rocket wants to capture Arcanine. The group mean while comes up with a bunch of plans to catch it. It's soon discovered that Arcanine has kids so now they clearly can't catch so instead Team Rocket has to. It's revealed doesn't want to break up a family either so he's going to go back to trying to find another pokemon and tells May there's a contest in Saffron City. I am so sick of these fillers already, I mean it's nice seeing Drew again but he fails like an excuse for someone for May to compete with. However this was another episode with way to much Team Rocket, seriously what was the point of seeing them work in a bakery?

3/5

Sitting Psyduck - Basically this rich girl sent off her own pokemon to catch a Psyduck who only wants to play with other pokemon. Of course our heroes has to get involved. Of course Team Rocket then has to capture it as well. Meowth couldn't even come up with why they should catch it but I really don't care anymore. In a very weird plan Team Rocket gives them sleds to go down hill only for pinball things to pop up which some how puts the group in a goal. What? However the rich girls pokemon defeat Team Rocket. The girl comes in and it's revealed the Psyduck keeps running away because like most rich people in anime it hates its lifestyle. Of course Team Rocket attacks again and she learns it wants to fight. Any episode where Team Rocket has to attack twice is a bad episode.

2/5

Magmaster12 November 21, 2014 06:26:39 PM

Hail to the Chef - Munchllax runs off while Team Rocket comes across a restaurant's Grand Opening that just so happens to be giving away food for free today, what a great business model! Then again this restaurant is apparently in the middle nowhere. It's revealed the group has come across another resturant where a Mr.Mime is the cook. I highly question how sanitary it is to have a restaurant run by a pokemon. The restaurant Team Rocket is at just so happens to have a Sneasal as a chef and considering how gross weasels are that's pretty nasty. Anyways for the group Mr.Mime makes an Cabbage, Apple and Carrot Stu while using psychic. In an interesting turn of events James and Jesse love Sneasal's cooking but Meowth hates it. How ever Mr.Mime's food tastes very bad despite it's nice performance. The interactions between Brock and the hot Chef have been really funny this episode I can't remember the last time I'm seen it worked so well. It turns out the owners of each restaurant are actually sisters who are rivals. So it's style vs substance, one cook has a pokemon with a bad attitude and cereate ugly food that tastes good and another who can puts a on quite a show with beautiful food but it looks terrible. I love this idea, as a cook the idea of style vs substance is great. After a bad airline food joke Jesse and James agree to help Rhoda the other chef because she thinks Jesse is a coordinator. While Rhonda asks for Brock for helping to learn how to cook good food, Brock agrees because he wants both the sisters to be together. Sure Brock I'm sure that your "intention". Of course before they can judge the contest Team Rocket steals the Sneasal, Mr.Mime and Pikachu. However it's really quick and it brings good character development for sisters and how they really do care for each other. Rhoda decides coincide defeat but Rhonda changes her mind and asks for Sneasal to be a head chef. The restaurant soon went bankrupt after 3 months for being in the middle of nowhere and never charging customers. Seriously we never see any other people in this episode aside from the group and Team Rocket. I know there are some people that really hate this episode but this an exception because of my love cooking.

5/5

Caterpie's Big Dilemma - The group are immediately attacked by a youngster with a caterpie calling them theives. They're freed after a crazy man shows up and it turns out they're in a giant lab. Also 4kids way to choose the worst voices ever. The crazy professor guy has a bunch of inventions that of course Team Rocket wants to steal them and of course they're the robbers from last night. Then Caterpie ends up eating a bunch of candies in the lad thanks to Team Rocket and it ends up growing giant! Oh no! Or what 4kids calls Mystery Candies. The Caterpie has grown so big it's now a threat to the next town over. Why would any parent allow a kid around this crazy professor let alone become his apprentice? This guy seems more like a mad scientist then an actual professor. After destroying nearly half the the town and probably killing some people and it evolves into Metapod. Team Rocket gets some of the giant mystery candies and Dustox and Cacnea grow giant! In a funny moment Cacnea despite being giant tackles James and the captures the mad scientist to work for Team Rocket. The Metapod evolves into a Giant Butterfree so they chase after the giant Dustox. Ash has Pikachu use thunderbolt on power lines which some how causes Dustox to shrink down. Office Jenny comes in to arrest them but of course the stupid kid has Butterfree use Whirlwind to send off Team Rocket, the boy then spent 6 years in jovinal hall for helping Team Rocket escape. But hey at least he grew closer to the Butterfree and promised to battle with Ash some day, year that will never happen. A lot of excitement in this episode, it was weird but excited plus a memorable character of the day.

4/5

Magmaster12 November 24, 2014 05:06:00 PM

Saffron Con - The group finally reaches Saffron City where May's first Kanto contest is. They meet Lillian the MC who is nearly identical to Vivian but has a mole, er whatever. May meets Harley who is apparently in town working at the pokemon center. Meanwhile Jessie plans on entering contests at an alter ego Jessebelle, she knows she's gong to win from the magic power of her disappearing and reappearing cleavage. Seriously it's pretty seeing 4kids unable to make up there mind. Harley tries to use his position as an orderly to convince the group yet again that he's good. I'm sure this will end well.The trainers choice in this episode is weird it's asking which Regi is the tallest. We then get some funny shennanigans of Jessie trying to train Cacnea.Then team rocket attacks again, at least we get to see a rare moment of James and Meowth of doing the motto without Jessie, who has gotten Cacnea caught in her hair. However Harley and May come in and free all the pokemon Team Rocket stole. Here it is revealed Squirtle actually knows Ice Beam, the move it took Ash's Glalie forever to learn. However May finds out her pass is invalid and it is after the deadline because Harley tricked her yet again. However Lillian explains how May saved the day yesterday and she is now able to participate. Loved the set up and the Team Rocket moments.

4/5

Hurdle for Squirtle - It's time as the contest begins May finally demands Harley to drop the act. Since this is Saffron City I wonder if this is the same city's nurse Joy from the last time. Harley's, May's and Jessie's appeals both go well Jessie goes out on a stretcher but in my opinion that's good. Harley and Jessebelle's battle starts off as a basic staring contest because she sends out Wobbuffet but instead Harley uses only defensive attacks until Jessie looses. Of course May and Harley end up in the finals so it's Squitle vs Airiados. It gets to the point where it's clearly Harley is going to win however May's Squirtle makes a comeback using Ice Beam taking away a MASSIVE amount a points. Harley point out something must have been rigged or something and he's probably right she won way to easily and Harley had such a clear advantage.

3,5/5

Magmaster12 November 25, 2014 04:58:33 PM

Pasta Lavista - This is it the final episode of Advanced Battle, it is also the last episode to get dubbed by 4kids. Before the group leaves Saffron May wants to go to a noodle restaurant while Ash wants to check out the battle dojo. So Ash and Max go to the dojo while Brock and May go to the noodle shop. However the noodle cookers gets dragged off by a woman. May has to follow him because of her love of noodles and Brock has to go because it's a pretty girl. The dojo appears to be a scam since Ash and Max end up cleaning the place. We also see Ash pull his hat backwards for the first time since Johto. Turns out the dojo owner wants the noodle shop owner who is his son to take over before he dies. I'm not going to miss 4kids actors like the dojo's owners voice which sounds like James if he was constipated. In the end the father and son have to battle to get what they want. Oh yeah and it's Hitmonlee vs Hitmonchan IT'S ABOUT FREAKING TIME. Master Hamm can't battle so he gives Ash Hitmonlee to battle for him in exchange May gets to battle Ash for Hitmonchan. May might have a chance with this because she actually has more experience with a fighting type, also because she REALLY wants those noodles. Of course this show can't have a compelling battle so Team Rocket has to show up. However love interest for the noodle guy steps in with her Hitmontop and defeats Team Rocket. Of course now the love interest will end up running the dojo instead.

4/5
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Fear Factor Phony - Great now all the vices accept the narrator sound like cheap imitations. I'll talk about that later but anyways the group comes across a ghost town and because it starts raining they have to spend the night in an abandoned house. I have to admit it's weird not having a bumper any more. Also Team Rocket discovers a bunch of ghost pokemon. May hears music and it turns out to be a bunch of psychic pokemon who the group scares away. We find out through Abra's dream (yes seriously) that the ghost town used to be a mining town where the psychic helped. However for reasons the writers aren't smart enough to come up with the workers had to leave the town and the pokemon behind. So the group decides to through the pyschic types a party. Yes seriously in the middle of the night they just manage to put together this party.It turns out the ghost pokemon are mad at the psychic types for partying so loud, yes seriously again. Team Rocket uses the ghost types to steal the pyschic pokemon and of course this plan fails. Brock comes up with a compromise by having Abra use safeguard around the psychic types yep. WOW this epissode was terrible, so much filler in this filler, a point less sub plot that made no sense and just plain stupid.

1/5

Magmaster12 November 25, 2014 05:47:12 PM

Here's my review of Advanced Battle.

Character Analysis    

Ash does a lot this and also gets a lot of character development. He gets two gym badges, meets two E4 members, makes to the final 8 in the Hoenn League and gets a Frontier Symbol. However despite the fact he's more mature his character overall still hasn't changed it's shown in the Morrison episodes that he's still just as competitive as ever but still willing to whatever for him pokemon. We get a lot of moments of him training his Glalie and other pokemon this showing how determined he is to making it. I like how he tried to surprise everyone by revealing Charizard and the fact actually wants to use it to battle Articuno. He may be confident but he still knows what he's doing he even made sure to train before the battle to see how good it is and how much leaving it to training can be. However as shown in the Drake episode he still has his flaws with his overconfidence and that he must not let his thoughts overwhelm and well I really like this lesson. May gets a lot of character development as well, winning three contests, making two captures and placing high in the Grand Festival. She's also stupid enough to fall for Harley everything single time this season and gets two ribbons she probably didn't deserve. May does have moments where she's shown as a strong independent character yet again such as when she puts her rival in one contest back in her place. We also have it established May's love for food although I find this so out of nowhere I can't help but wonder if the writers decided on this because she caught a Munchlax. My favorite moment would have to be when May learns that she might not be able to get into the Grand Festival all because she refuses to leave Max behind because of a promise she made to her mom, yet another good sibling moment between them. Max doesn't get a whole lot of moments devoted to him this season aside from Do I hear Ralts where Max has to take care of a pokemon all on his own and while he's sure he's failed he'll never give up it's close tie for my favorite moment of all time with him. Other then that he doesn't do much other then continue to group up with Ash when May and Brock go off to do something else. Speaking of which Brock does even less this season, the closest thing would be in Once in a Mawhile where it's to comedic for character development but at least one of his pokemon evolves. The only thing to note of Team Rocket is that they get a new motto in Kanto, the first of many until they changed it back just now. Also Jessie has a continued alterego in Kanto that she'll use for every contest and loose in of course.


Overall Review    
Advanced Battle is kind of 3 seasons in one, we get a rap up of the the gym battles, contests, and Team Magma and Team Aqua, another where we get the Grand Festival and Pokemon League and yet another in which we get the Battle Frontier Saga. This is also the last season done by 4kids, the only thing I'll miss about them is there awesome theme songs like the one this season which easily my favorite. Although if you like this one I highly suggest you check out it's Japanese counterpart Battle Frontier. I imagine this probably happened because 4kids was making so many stupid mistakes, their dubbing process has to slow compared to game release and they were demanding too much. The switch didn't bother me too much but I'll get into that later. The first quarter was really bad, bad fillers, bad gym battles, and bad climaxes. I've already gone into my issues with how awful those are but they leave a deep scar on the season. The second third was decent, our first GF was great, introducing character in a more competitive settings with wonderful battles that tried to stay beautiful. It went a lot better then the first pokemon league easily. The Pokemon League was just okay, there are a bad pokemon leagues that have poor battles and disappointing climaxes and there are good ones with memorable battles and satisfying conclusions. The Hoenn League is a mixed bag though, the battles are overall but they're still pretty rushed I know they're trying to pull a different route by introducing the rival last minute but it just doesn't work. However it's easily better then the bad leagues plus it's probably the only one where every single one of Ash's pokemon has a victory. I know people are mad that Ash sent his last two Hoenn captures back to the lab but Glalie got so much more screen time then Ash's other pokemon and Torkoal did as well. As for the fillers they're pretty good Claydol Big and Tall is considered one of the best episodes of all time and I loved the idea of having someone like Drew involved in an adventure episode. As for the final third, while the battles even though May's final contest win was terrible and some of the fillers continue to be complete trash seeing Ash's Charizard return to battle Articuno almost all worth it. The return to Kanto also began a pattern of better animation as time goes on, it's clearer the animators are putting more detail intp the back ground as well as the moves. Overall Advanced Battle is unevenly paced with terrible fillers but when it get everything right it tops itself completely  


4.5/5

5 To Watch
The Scheme Team
Vanity Affair
Do I hear Ralts?
******** at Linoone
The Symbol of Life

3 To Skip
Clampearl of Wisdom
Relicanth Really Can
The Evolutionary War

Magmaster12 November 26, 2014 10:43:56 AM

Alright it's now the moment I've been excitedly waiting for Lucario and the Mystery of Mew!

http://statici.behindthevoiceactors..../banner_97.jpg

I'm going to start off by saying that I love this movie, I love it a lot. The movie starts off with an impending war that could lead to the destruction of the kingdom with no survivors. Why the fighting? Who cares it's really awesome to see what a war between humans with pokemon is like in a ancient setting. Basically Sir Aaron tells his Lucario that he's abandoned the queen and the kingdom while also imprisoning Lucario in his staff. The tree of beginning gives off light and this leads to an end for the war, revealing this was a story for a little girl. Because Aaron saved the day he is looked upon as the true guardian of aura. The kingdom is now throwing a festival in honor of Sir Aaron through a pokemon battle and the winner becomes the guardian aura. This leads to group trying a on a bunch of medieval clothing and really like the diversity and detail in each of there costumes, especially Pikachu's. We see the battle competition played to the awesome Advanced Battle theme so I get hear one last time! Ash manages to win the festival gaining the title of guardian. However it turns out the opponent was actually a woman! I raeally like this scene in the ball room, we get to see all of the characters do there usual things, May is dancing with a man, Brock gets up the nerve to ask Kid to dance in a funny moment and Max is eating. It gives a great feeling of humanity in everyone. While they let of all there pokemon, Ash can't join because he has to stand still and be dignified all night. However all the pokemon (meowth included) end up running off to the attic. This while Kid calls her boss or something in err Unova maybe? She sends off her Weavile to attach a transmitter to a Mew and they end up attacking the pokemon. This leads to a pretty awesome battle scene between them however Mew ends up telaporting Pikachu and Meowth to the tree of beginning. Lucario comes out of the staff when Ash asks to start the fire works with Lucario who has an aura similar to Aaron thinks Ash is Aaron and runs off. We get a flashback of Lucario and Aaron who wonders the castle finds out that he is in the future. The princess asks Lucario to guide Ash back to mew so he can get Pikachu back. It's revealed that Kid is actually Kid Summers who has the world record for most world records broken, right. So now we have Lucario using it's aura to guide Kid Summers who is driving a Hummer. It's shown that while Lucario is a nice pokemon, he's just rather distant, refusing to get close to anyone like he g ot close with Sir aaron who he believe might be a traitor. But that doesn't matter, the group comes across some geysers which means it's hot springs time! After a rather pointless scene, Ash recounts how he and Pikachu become this actually an important because Max and May have never actually found out the story of the first episode. I love the how they recount this because it shows off why Ash and Pikachu belong together. They soon establish that even Pikachu is now worried about Ash and how he hasn't seen him in the night before. While Ash appears more determined to get to Pikachu only to end up at the place where Lucario was trapped in the staff and we see a time flower recount the event in a pretty awesome moment. It's clear that while this vision from the past may have happened the area has since become incredibly vibrant. Brock and the group start to beileve Lucario might have been right. It is after this that Ash finally understands Lucario and apologizes to him and promises Lucario he'll never desert Pikachu. However a Regirock who is protecting the tree of beginning attacks! The group ends up inside the tree of beginning anyways and it is amazing, lush green and pokemon running free. Kid then sends off her droid bots. However one of these bots tries drilling into a crystal which leads to this red gunk getting activated. It's revealed that not only is the tree of beginning an ecosystem it's an actual living thing! Ash manages to get far ahead of the group and Pikachu hears him calling out. However a Regice attacks and they have to back track it is here they run into Team Rocket who are being chased to by a Registeel. Jessie gets sucked up by the trees antibodies, James does as well but he's nice enough to remember to release his Chimecho so it can be safe. Ash convinces everyone to try to leave because it's gotten too dangerous while Ash stays to look for Pikachu. Lucario decides to stay behind as well because he knows Ash would do the same for him. Max and Brock end up getting sucked up by the goo. I love how at lost May is at seeing Max go considering all the character development they had in the last season, she promised her mom to take care of him and failed. Of course it doesn't take long for May to get sucked up as well, her squirtle is clearly the most confused right now considering the fact she just caught it. However Ash and Pikachu do end up reunited with jumping over many ledges in a windy area just to be with him, it's quite an amazing scene. However Kid and Ash end up getting sucked into the goo as well of course Ash is the one who manages to make the big speech. However Mew ends up telling the tree of beginning that they're not a threat and thus are all somehow brought back to life. However now Mew is sick and the tree of beginning is falling apart. It's discovered that Aaron sacrificed himself with aura to save the tree. So because Ash has Aura like Sir Aaron decides to sacrifice himself in order to save the tree like Aaron did however Lucario steps in last minute and sacrifices himself instead. It's then revealed this is the reason Aaron sealed Lucario in the staff so this wouldn't happen in a moving scene. While Lucario may be gone now it's aura is with Ash now and all is well. The movie closes on bland generic rock song #4. However annoying knowing the original version got AmiYumi better known as those girls who did the Teen Titans theme song and had there own cartoon when this movie came out. So that was Lucario and the Mystery of Mew and I still love it. I love this movie a lot it does so much right. It has amazing animation, an amazing and a great story to boot. Unlike most other pokemon movies this one felt like it had a good meaning this show is always based around, friendship. Friendship is what keeps this show going the friendship between Pikachu and Ash and lengths they would go to to be together. It's not my favorite movie, animated movie or even one of favorites at all. However it is easily my favorite pokemon movie and I hold it at a high standard of what I expect from a pokemon movie. Also it's the best movie based off a video game I've ever seen.

6/5

Magmaster12 November 26, 2014 04:41:19 PM

Sweet Baby James - Munchlax is sick so an old couple near by asks to come with them so it can get better. It turns out Jame's Chimecho is also very sick however he discovers a castle that is actually owned by his grandparents who are the old couple from earlier. I like how the old couple thinks Jessie is Jame's fiance and James is completely horrified. We even get a look into Jame's childhood and why he loves his grandparents it shows off how deep down he is a good person. However it turns out that James has to lie to his parents because he doesn't want to disappointment. Seeing this play out and having a plot not based entirely around pokemon is nice. James has to make the group lie as well in exchange. We get a nice moment when James is nursing Chimecho and May comes over to check on her Munchlax and ask if he's okay as well it's a really great moment. However of course Jessie and Meowth can't resist but steal the pokemon and James immediately goes against them. James decides that he must leave behind Chimecho even though he really loves it he knows he can never leave it. The song they play with this is slighlty less tacky then a 4kids one, just slightly. Oh well at least we get a trade in for the far more interesting Mime Jr. James ends up telling his grandparents that he's a member of Team Rocket anyways. However they're still happy for him because if James happy they're happy and it's clear he hasn't changed. This was great James centered episode he's always an interesting character.

5/5

Chip off the old Brock - Grovyle and Brock's Mudkip are battling and it finally evolves! Brock's Martshtomp accidentally injures a Flaaffy and Marshtomp quickly falls in love with it. However the Flaafy's owner who is a medicine shop worker with her grandma is clearly going to be in love with hot filler man by the end of this episode. There's something about the hot guy wanting to be as good as his love interest and Team Rocket attacks twice in this episode and I seriously don't care. Team Rocket lifts the medicine shop in the air with love interest girl still inside so hot guy goes after her. In the process Team Rocket destroys all the bottles, making there plan entirely pointless. At least Mime Jr does something and he's funny. The characters that are trapped manage to help and I seriously don't care because they're so freaking bland.

1/5

Magmaster12 November 27, 2014 04:27:13 PM

Wheel of Frontier! - It was a painful experience but we've finally reached the next Frontier Faculty. The Frontier Brain this time Greta who uses fighting type pokemon so Ash decides to call upon for his Snorlax. The Gimmick of this facility is that you spin a wheel to decide how the battle will turn out and he lands on 2 vs 2. Ash and Greta are both very fired up for the battle. Greta sends out Haryama and Medicham and Ash sends out Grovyle and Snorlax. This episode shows very common signs of Sarah Nochenny Ash's new voice actor being bad, she seems to have no enthusiasm for battle like the previous voice actor. Grovyle ends up loosing to Haryama because Greta knows how to take out a speedy pokemon. Snorlax then manages to beat Haryama and soundtrack can't decide if it wants to be dub or the original. Ash manges to win through a clever method, have hyper beam point down lifting Snorlax in the air and then crushing Medicham with Body Slam. This episode had a great battle Ash even admits have fun at the battle and it's on to the Battle Doom next.

4/5

May's Egg-Cellent Adventure - The group comes across a Pokemon Egg Ranch and the owners daughter wants to be a coordinator but she doesn't want to leave the farm. The girl challenges May's Munchlax to a battle and easily looses since Munchlax has never been in a battle before. The group then volunteers to help about because this episode needs another plot some how. It's revealed the girl is scared because she's not she if could do it, I like how this leads to May explaining her journey and how she found confidence in herself through her journey. Of course Team Rocket attacks and takes all the eggs of course this is just an excuse for the girl to attack with her pokemon and find her confidence. Yeesh I am so sick of this cliche, err so annoying. Hey at least this leads to Pikachu figuring out how to use Volt Tackle a move that is so awesome it will get replaced and anger nearly all the fans. Also a Vupix egg hatches and it some how has multiple tails even though it's supposed to have only one after coming out of an egg. Oh the farm gives May an egg as a thank you.

3.5/5

Magmaster12 November 28, 2014 04:28:18 PM

Weekend Warrior - The gang comes through a town called Silver Town which is apparently hosting a pokemon contest. There must be something in this town's water though because the pokemon here do not look right.
http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/b/bd/AG151_error.png
This the first contest episode not dubbed by 4kids Mr.Suzukeyo sounds completely off though. I mean they couldn't just reuse his voice clip? One of the people in the contest is a business man and since he gets a special intro he's clearly going to be May's rival in this episode. May's appeal also goes by great, probably one of her best ever. The business man, then comes in playing his guitar clearly he is suffering a midlife crisis. His appeal also goes over well his wife and son come in to lecture him on how ridiculous he's being. However of course he manages to convince his family to participate in the contest and they both make it to the next round. Of course Jeremy and May end up participating i the finals. It's revealed that in his youth Jeremy played guitar in a rock band, he also looked like Giovanni if he had mullet. :lol: Long lost brothers or recycled character design you decide! The final battle is Combusken vs Venusaur and Jeremy's Venusaur is really strong, it even knows frenzy plant! However May manges to pull through and win in a pretty good battle.

4/5

On the Golden Pond - The gang goes fishing and Ash manages to land a Crawdaunt. However the Crawdaunt has been scaring away all the other fishermen. It turns out Team Rocket has been having a guy use the Crawdaunt to clear the way for leisure land or other terms it's another stupid plan. Seriously why the heck must Team Rocket be involved in everything evern when they're not needed! The evil business man Team Rocket is working with challenges the boat house owner to battle and if he looses the girl gets top keep the boat house. The guy even eplains he wants to close down the lake because he almost drowned in it at one point, even though he was some how saved. Yeesh where is that violin? I really couldn't care less though the lake is clearly dirty and no one is showing up so what is the point? Of course this episode is ecuse to show off why Corphish doesn't need to evolve since he's battling a Crawdaunt in this episode, even though in the game it would loose immediately. Team Rocket decides, to just through away there plans and capture Crawdaunt. Making episode this episode entirely pointless. Of course Team Rocket is defeated and the business man is saved by a Dragonair. He also so how just now remembers it was him and the now old woman who risked to save him as a boy. blah blah that was forgettable

3/5

Magmaster12 December 1, 2014 05:09:10 PM

Tactic Theatrics - As far as Frontier Battles are concerned this one probably the most forgettable because he doesn't call upon an older pokemon and it's a pretty basic strategy, just a double battle but with a lot of publicity. Ash claims in an interview that the best offense is a strong defense nice to know you're still stealing that catch phrase from Casey. The Frontier Brain Tucker is a mega star which is why he's getting all the attention. The way Tucker is what saves this episode though. I really what know what kind of thought process the artist went through when designing Tucker, words can not explain his look. I mean it's like a flamboyant Brazilian Butterfly got turned into a human. The set up for the Dome is better then the one in the actual game, you can access a PC to your extra pokemon if you wish to use them against Tucker's pokemon. Ash decides to use Swellow and Corphish and this kind of what ruins the battle, out of all of Ash's pokemon they have very boring attacks. I like how they explain the meaning of the symbol, Tactics which requires a strategy while Tucker is a master strategist. The battle really isn't that great Corphish and Swellow take attack after attack until Ash manages to pull one off as if Tucker's pokemon have the worst defense ever.

4/5

Magmaster12 December 2, 2014 12:27:15 PM

Reversing the Charges - The group runs into an Elekid that's clearly out for blood, unleashing lots of thunder on unsuspecting pokemon. When battling the Elekid May's Egg ends up between its prongs. However Elekid soon shows up to attack Team Rocket, loosing Mime Jr in the process but gaining May's egg in the process. Brock comes to a conclusion that Elekid must have to much lightning in his body. When Team Rocket comes into to steal Elekid and Pikachu James and Brock make a trade in a pretty neat moment. Also Phanpy ends evolving in order to take down Team Rocket's mecha. Well I love Donphan and I also love Elekid so this episode wasn't too bad.

3.5/5

The Green Guardian - The group want to go to Cycling Road but they have to go on a beaten path. Of course Pikachu ends up running off and it's here we're introduced to Pokemon Ranger Solana. That's right this episode is an ad for Pokemon Ranger. I don't care too much though since I barely played the games they're okay though and the anime does a good job integrating the games features. However it looks incredibly awkward watching Solana twirling around her stylus while the pokemon just stand there. Anyays Pikachu ran off because a Celebi is in danger. Of course even though they admit they need to keep this secret they end up freeing Team Rocket. They end up caring for Celebi over night and of course Team Rocket arrives to capture Celebi. And of course Team Rocket is defeated and Celebi heals the forest.

4/5

From Cradle to Save - The group runs into a ninja who are trying to find some thief and. It's Team Rocket, no point in even calling this a guess it's clearly them. The ninja goes to a ninja school and the group decides to join the group as well. Oh god a ninja school is this episode going to be about five minutes of breathing and heavy pauses with a pink haired mary sue getting character development that won't matter in the end. To be fair 2006 was a big year for Naruto everyone here was a fan. Apparently sometime between living in orphanage, joining a bike gang and being a weather woman Jessie apparently once trained to be a ninja as well. The group learns a bunch of ninja techniques you'd expect to come out of some unacknowledged westerner. One of there missions involves looking for a Kecleon which actually has a pretty cool resolution. The blame the thief on Bonsly however it's too young to eat Oran Berries and Brock starts caring for it. Of course Team Rocket attacks and they're defeated by the groups pokemon. Bonsly is watching from a distance and decides it wants to go with Brock who will be his fighter until he leaves.

4.5/5

Magmaster12 December 3, 2014 12:21:26 PM

Time Warps heal all Wounds - That's right nine seasons in they've finally done it, Time Travel. I don't mean time travel with a purpose, like Celebi and Dialga getting involved I mean something much stupider. Time Travel in the pokemon world seems to follow it's own set of rules in that you can the past as much as you want and there will be no repercussions only good stuff can happen when time is changed. Anyways, the group is now in Fuchsia City here Squirtle just randomly runs off like a jerk an abandoned train station. It's here May meets an old lady is waiting for a train passenger to come Granny clearly has early onset dementia since the station is clearly abandoned and she's waiting for someone who never came back. It turns out Grandma and Grandpa used to run an Egg daycare but grannie did want to leave the town when Grandpa left to be a pokemon doctor. Grannie found out she was pregnant and the grandpa died in an accident a few months later before he could even find out. Remember kids if you're grandma has dementia they don't they just need you to travel back in time. That night Squirtle runs off again, while Meowth who over heard the story is waiting the train station where Squirtle is. Squirtle then discovers grannie's locket with grandpa's picture inside, and get this IT TRANSPORTS THEM BACK IN TIME! Oh man where to I begin with how stupid this is. First off how convent that May ends up finding this locket after about forty years. I mean what if some random person just picked this up and ended up trapped in the past? How does this locket somehow induce time travel? Did Celebi enchant it or something? Couldn't the writers come up with a less stupid choice? Also there is no point at all in Meowth being involved in this. The conductor kicks May out of the station for being discovered on the tracks earlier because I guess forty years ago adults in the pokemon world were actually responsible. This prevents May from telling Grandpa that Grandma is pregnant. However it starts raining, as you can tell by the people in the street who are freaking out like it's acid rain or something. This leads to May to *take* a hot air balloon that is just lying around and has Squirtle use Ice Beam at the clouds turning the rain into snow. SCIENCE. Twenty people were then killed a train wreck because of the snow, including people who searching for the cure for Missingno disease and many people woukd never become born leaving May to return to a war torn post apocalyptic future. But hey this some how lead to the train station no longer being abandoned (yes seriously). Also my favorite cheesy pokemon song is playing now. Also grandma and grandpa are pokemon pediatricians so the can put up a stethoscope to May's egg for some reason. Also May's Egg hatches into an Eevee yay. This is stupidest episode of Pokemon Eva :faec:

2/5

Queen of Serpentine - In this episode Team Rocket presents Ash with a *power prefifyer* that will increase Pikachu's strength. Ash you're so freaking stupid Team Rocket might just deserve it. I can understand Jessie disguise since it's Lucy the frontier brain by god Ash James is just wearing sun glasses! The rest of the group meet Pike Queen Lucy who goes on to save Pikachu from Team Rocket. Lucy agrees to battle Ash despite the battle pike being closed, clearly this is because Lucy actually has a crush on Brock, er right despite this Max still pulls him away what a jerk. Ash sends out Donphan against Lucy's Seviper Ash is at a disadvantage since nearly every single ground type move is banned in the anime. However Donphan manages to her Seviper only to be taken out by Milotic. Ash sends out Pikachu against Milotic and the battle continues to be awesome. I like Lucy's entourage not only do they have voices that sound like actual people but they have funny moment supporting her. Pikachu manages to Paralyze Milotic by mastering Volt Tackle however this powers up its facade. This leads to Ash using Thunderbolt on itself leading Pikachu to go into the twister and use Volt Tackle and just like that Milotic is defeated. The battle in this episode was pretty awesome plus it was nice seeing Donphan in a major battle and actually win. We then get a funny reveal that Lucy only likes Pokemon with squinty eyes which is why she liked Brock hah.

5/5

Magmaster12 December 4, 2014 12:33:30 PM

Off the Unbeaten Path - The group is now Island hopping and come across a Pokemon Orienteering contest. Of the course the group has to join in now. Ash plans on entering with Pikachu, Brock with Bonsly, May with Eevee and Max with Munchlax. Also James is entering Mime Jr. and Jessie with Meowth who is dressed as a Sneasal. This episode has a lot of great character moments, Max interacting with Munchlax and later his sister. Team Rocket moments are funny as well. However it'as really really annoying seeing Team Rocket cheat just so James can win and James ends up winning. That is really really annoying, I'd rather see Team Rocket die then win for one single episode. However it is funny seeing the group take back the fruit while they're doing the motto. However James ends up agreeing to donate the fruit to the group since they ended up saving the day and James only care about the medal.

4/5

Harley Rides Again - It's time for Munchlax's first contest, I like how Brock warns May not to turn this into a repeat of the last time she tried to get her third ribbon. It's funny because May ends up loosing this one. Oh god it's Harley and he's as creepy as ever. Seriously he says he needs to powder his nose, who says that in this day and age!? Then again May uses the line after the appeals. I like how Team Rocket is handled in this episode as a sideplot, Wobbuffett randomly falls on the stage so Ash runs out to find out that Team Rocket is stealing pokemon. The finals end up as Harley vs May Octillary vs Munchlax and it doesn't end well. May looses her first Kanto Contest and Harley now feels like a real threat.

4/5

Magmaster12 December 5, 2014 01:24:05 PM

Odd Pokemon Out - While travelling to a connecting island that will go to May's next pokemon contest they end up on one with a Pokemon Ranch. Grovyle gets injured fighting a Tropius and of course Team Rocket wants to steal it. However Tropius will only come with Team Rocket if Meganium can join it. However while Grovyle is being healed it falls in love with Meganium as well. Team Rocket comes into steal Meganium however it ends up running over to an injured Tropius instead of Grovyle leaving him heart broken. Seriously, after knowing her for only a few minutes. However this gives Grovyle the determination to evolve into Sceptile only for him to not be able to use attacks. Sceptile doesn't end up saving the day instead it's Tropius and Meganium. I like how this episode creates a new arc, plus the first of Ash's starters to reach its final form since Charizard.

4/5

Spontanius Combusken! - Just like we were promised Drew is at the contest, however it wasn't written by Drew. Drew is only here because he wants his pokemon to rest. All this while Ash's Sceptile still isn't able to use attacks yay for continuity. The card was actually sent by a fan of May named Brianna. Brianna is actually a big fan of Drew and May and is actually jealous of the fact that May is the only one Drew has payed attention to. Of course everyone important makes it to the next round in appeals. So apparently Brianna is a huge contest shipper and if she doesn't admit she likes him she'll confess herself after winning. Boy that would be awkward. It's a close battle but Combusken is able to win by koing it in the longest thirty seconds ever. I liked this episode but the love subplot stuff has been done before.

4/5

Magmaster12 December 8, 2014 12:33:33 PM

Cutting the ties that Bind - We're now on the island with the Battle Palace. However Sceptile still can't use attacks and runs off. I like how Brock establishes Ash knows how to handle this maturely plus it's great character development for his Sceptile. However there are powerful Beedrill in the forest and they attack. Seriously are Beedrill ever tame? Ash, Pikachu and Sceptile end up falling off of a cliff and he looses its pokeball while Pikachu is separated all together. Scott meets the rest of the group who find out the forest's Beedrill are freaking out because this is when they evolve or something. I like how Scott has them use repel to protect themselves. Pikachu eventually finds Pikachu who heals him and it turns out the group finds him as well. Spencer's voice is way off by the way. Ash and Sceptile spend the night together and they go through some bonding and everyone is eventually reunited. Of course Team Rocket then attacks. however Ash's Sceptile is able to use its moves again and save the day. I liked this episode, a lot of Ash's pokemon haven't gotten any focus for a long time so it was nice finally seeing Sceptile get some character development.

4.5/5

Ka Boom with a View - What makes the Battle Palace different is that the entire battle can be through the entire island! I freaking love this premise, all the motion, speed and changing landscape, it's just awesome. Sceptile manages to beat Shiftry which he recalls and replaces with Heracross against Venusaur only to be taken out by Solar Beam. In turn Ash sends out Swellow who uses its speed to take out Venusaur. However Spencer's final pokemon is a powerful Claydol. However thanks to a powerful sunlight coming in Sceptile manages to take out Claydol with a Solar Beam.

5/5

Magmaster12 December 9, 2014 12:33:51 PM

King and Queen For the Day - Thanks to Team Rocket Mime Jr, Bonsly, Pikachu and Meowth and keep getting chased by a bunch of goons. It turns they're hunting a Bonsly and Mime Jr who are escaping fans from a tv show. Seriously who would watch a romantic show about Mime Jr and Bonsly? Anyways they agree to have Mime Jr and Bonsly as stand ins as the replacements are sick. This episode is okay I like seeing the production of a tv show but it's just so stupid.

3/5

Curbing the Crimson Tide - The group enters a big city with a pokemon called red lightning who challenges trainers to battle then rights on the pokemon's face when he wins. He even beats May's Squirtle! Thanks to Team Rocket's Meowth balloon they team up to go after Red Lightning. This leads them to a house that looks just like the one from the terrible Drowsee filler nine seasons ago. It's revealed that a little girl is controlling Red Lightning and it's actually a Scizor with a scarf and is some how able to fly. It turns out the girl is doing this because her parents never notice her and she is lonely. I like how May tries to reason with her about how on her own hourney she misses her parents as well. May battles Scizor and wins. Despite this Luna promises to stop causing trouble because she enjoyed the battle so much er okay.

3/5

Magmaster12 December 11, 2014 01:01:59 PM

What I did for love - It's time for May's next contest and May plans on using her new Eevee this time. Brock meets a Pokemon Breader who likes his Bonsly and of course he falls madly in love with her. To impress her Brock decides to enter the pokemon contest. May's appeal goes off wonderfully as does Brock's despite his trouble not flirting with Nurse Joy. Both of them end up in the finals together and Eevee manages to win by running on the water gun like it's Jesus or something. How many battles in row is this where May manages to win last minute despite getting her butt kicked for the entire first half? The woman decides to take a character from earlier in as a student because Brock did too good to get any attention from her.

3.5/5

Three Jynx and a Baby - With a title like that I am seriously not very interested. The Smoochum in this episode of course uses its cuteness for evil. However Team Rocket manage to steal it anyways. Three Jynx arrive in the city the group is in and start freezing stuff. They try to tell them that Team Rocket stole Smoochum with telepathy but since this isn't a movie they show them in there heads. Jynx attack Ash thinking he's helping Team Rocket but they eventually come around to help. Also Smoochum evolves. What a dull episode.

2/5


Talking a Good Game - All right now it's time for Ash to take on the Battle Tower and the Frontier Brain is a trainer who can speak to Pokemon. Apparently Ash can't learn her name without a pokemon appearing to attack and Annabel having to ration things. Also Team Rocket attacks and are easily defeated. It turns out Anabel is actually a girl! She's also not going to reveal she's the frontier brain until the group arrives at the battle Tower. Ash challenges Anabel but easily looses because of her strong connection with her pokemon but at least he was able to take out one of her pokemon by running into a confused Pikachu yes seriously.

4/5

Second Times the Charm - Ash decides it will be best if uses his training to get closer to his pokemon so he can focus on his pokemon over power. However Beedrill attack! Seriously though I am incredibly sick of seeing Beedrill attack. In the process of training of course Team Rocket attacks, oh man never before have been more sick of saying that. Can he please get back to the real plot? Of course they're defeated, we then get a funny scene where May and Ash try to use there thoughts to command pokemon as well. Afterwards half way into the episode we finally get our battle. Corphish beats Alakazam by recalling it and sending it back out to cure its confusion, I'm pretty sure that should be considered cheating. Tauros and Metagross are both taken out in a tie so it's time for Anabel's favorite pokemon Espeon. In a clever move, Ash uses Pikachu to cause a black out to distact Espeon and win with a volt tackle. Now it's time for my favorite part of this entire series, the battle pyramid! I love this battle but did we really need a Team Rocket interlude?

4.5/5

Magmaster12 December 14, 2014 05:38:54 PM

Pokemon Ranger! Deoxys - Crisis - I'm just going to make this one big review since two parters lie this usually have the same people working on it. When heading back to Pewter City for the Battle Pyranid an Aura Bori Alice appears and that can mean only one thing! Deoxys! This some how causes all technology to fail even though that's not how it worked in the Deoxys movie but whatever. Solidad shows up and is all like I don't have time for your garbage Brock it's pretty funny. Of course Solidad's capture syler is still some how working. Deoxys appears and Max some how forms some sort of psychic link with it for some reason. I like how Destiny Deoxys is actually mentioned when they're talking about the cause of this.Max's strange connection with Deoxys causes him to want to follow Solidad, seriously what can be so dangerous about all this? This of course causes the entire group to be involved.After a drawn out scene of Deoxys trying to communicate with the group it eventually uses Meowth as vessel to claim he's scared. Why is he scared? Because it is very cold in space. Well duh it's cold in space just ask Khan. Then Deoxys just leaves with Max and Meowth and we're left on a cliff hanger. In the next part it's revealed Max and Meowth were taken to a weird dimension that is Deoxys' room. It's also revealed Deoxys hated traveling in space until it crashed onto earth and was lonely but too afraid to leave the cave. I kind of like this idea I think it's pretty good. The group plus Team Rocket explores the cave for Max and Meowth leading for them to call out all of there pokemon which leads for Deoxys to leave its dimension and speak backwards. The meteor gives a massive energy build up which is giving off solar flares and will soon explode. Um SCiEncE!? I don't know enough about astronomy to know if this could work. Everyones pokemon must attack Deoxys so Solidad can capture it so it can stop attacking. They eventually save Meowth and Max and Solidad captures Deoxys right after. Deoxys then leaves to see other pokemon. Unlike previous specials this one was really good, great continuity and pacing I love it.

5/5

Magmaster12 December 15, 2014 12:38:20 PM

All that glitters is not Golden - When camping on a lake May and Ash come across a golden Sudowoodo. Oddly enough Ash decides to try to catch it but it rejects him. They tell Brock about it and oddly enough he doesn't believe him. The group decides to have lunch in a western cafe with cowboys that obsessed with the idea of golden pokemon. This causes them to be forced to leave the cafe and of course Team Rocket over hears.The character of the day is the actual owner of the Sudowoodo who doesn't seem to want to return to its trainer. I like how Team Rocket is in this episode, they're very over the top which I'm pretty okay with. Brock uses his Bronsly to communicate with Sudowoodo but it runs off instead.It's revealed that the trainer experimented on Sudowoodo to make it no longer weak water but he badly wants to reverse. Seriously someone who is terrible enough to experiment on there pokemon like that doesn't deserve it. Of course the trainer sacrifices himself to save Sudowoodo and the day is saved. Pretty lame episode.

2/5

New Plot - Odd Lot - May is going for her fifth ribbon and of course yet again this is the last contest before the Grand Festival. Agh why? Creating tention for the same thing yet again! At least last time it was really set up but this is really annoying I understand why they went away with it next saga. May is clearly nervous over all this. Also Harley shows up calls the group May and her boy toys. So um is May a pimp?? Is that what Harley is implying!? However Harley already has five ribbons so there is no need for him to compete in the contest. May and Ash decide to use this as an opportunity to train and seeing Harley made May more intense, so seeing him actually helped making her forget her nervousness. I like how James sold all of his bottle caps to get Jessie a new dress and Jessie says he's just jealous he can't dress like this. Even though he's dressed up as a woman a lot. Harley decides to give his pokemon to Jessie to take out May because in a funny flashback a girl that looked like May ate her last octopus snack which made him angry. I like this continuity flup since it does make sense for Harley to have another reason to hate May so deliberately now. James using Harley's Ariados and rather then going on stage and exposing this Ash stupidly confronts it head on. However this manages to backfire when Combusken lights Ariados' webs on fire. Of course despite messing up May makes it to the next round.

4/5

Magmaster12 December 16, 2014 01:07:28 PM

Going for Choke - James and Meowth trap the group by disguising themselves and leading them into a dark room, where telephone is. How is the group still alive if they're able to fall for this stupid scheme!? Fortunately drew was some how able to see through this and frees them with his Flygon. However Team Rocket makes a pitfall and traps the group yet again. But Brock remembers for once he has a Forrtress and they manage to run into James and Harley above May. And *gasp* Jessebelle is Jessie! However because Drew is around Harley just er walks away. The final battle is Banette vs Squitle, however the battle ends in a draw so it's time to get into over time and May manges to pull through. So May now has her final ribbon and the Grand Festival is coming up. I really like how the battle in this episode really stood out.

4/5

The Ole' Berate and Switch! - The episode starts off with what else but Team Rocket failing. This leads to a really harsh argument and the ultimate break up of Team Rocket. YAY this is already working to become m favorite episode. The group agrees to visit the Pewter City gym before going to the Battle Pyramid. However the group decides to attend a Pokemon battle tournament. This is of course a scheme run by Cassidy and *****. But they don't seem to question why this Nurse Joy's mouth isn't moving. Of course the Team Rocket group end up going to the tournament as well and run into Cassidy. James ends up joining Cassidy, and OMG the subtext between Jessie and Cassidy is getting weird. Max uncovers this Team Rocket plan. I like how the group confuses James for Butch and they get his name correct this time. All the Team Rocket grunts unveil themselves and it turns to an all out er not brawl more of a mess. But it is nice seeing Ash and the group talk back to the grunts about how what they're doing is wrong. I really like this moment considering how little the group are ever able to gain an upper hand on the evil teams. I also like how Cassidy tries with James while Botch tries doing it with Jessie and also fails.Of coursed James, Jessie and Mewoth end up regrouping. While Cassidy and Butch try to get away they end up falling into pit traps. This is quite annoying but I really don't care. They try to take the pokeballs and of course they end up failing. I guess this was a pretty good Team Rocket episode but I'm kind of annoyed by how easily they get back together I meab they end up arguing at the end of the episode anyways.

4/5

Magmaster12 December 17, 2014 12:36:44 PM

Grating Spaces! - Brock's parents being the terrible parents they are leave on a vacation leaving all of Brock's siblings on there on, wow what terrible parents. I like how the gym is still a complete mess from the last time, with all the bad paint and ribbons. Apparently Brock's Onix evolved into Steelix. Ash sums up how the gym looks perfectly, like an art gallary for lunatics. I forgot that Brock's entire family also has young bloods disease. Jesse and James receive Giant Aggron and Charizard from Team Rocket's Delibird for some reason. Team Rocket disguised as gym remodelers challenges the group to a double battle and Ash and Brock accept. However there isn't a lot of tension here since as we saw Team Rocket use strong pokemon just two episodes ago and they still failed. While the double battle is really awesome of course Jessie and James end up arguing and revealing themselves. Aren't you glad these two decided to stay together? Also Meowth is caught stealing the gym's pokemon. I like how at the end of the episode Brock puts his parents back in there place, clearly angry it's a really great moment. Heck this is probably the greatest Brock episode in this saga it's always awesome seeing his family. It's completely understandable for him to be angry plus his Onix evolved!

5/5

Battling the Enemy Within - The group arrives at the Battle Pyramid and Ash is quite confident. However they end up falling into a trap which leads to ancient ruins. I like how Ash is clearly confident about wrapping everything up already. The ruins are really well designed with ancient art and Indiana Jones traps. They are saved by Brandon who reveals these are the ruins dedicated to Pokelantis whose evil king tried using Ho-oh for evil only to disappear. Ash being as stupid as ever runs of and falls into the kings chamber picking up an orb expecting to see Ho-oh. Instead Ash gets processed by the King of Pokelantis. The way the guy acts is kind of unintentionally funny, how he just awkwardly set fourth demands and acts like a complete jerk. Brendan ends up challenging Ash to battle and if we wins err well I have no idea. The king uses Ash's mind and battle knowledge and while still using incredibly cheap tactics. I like how they cut between the two in order to show how the two may have some things in common. These brutal attacks are really well thought out I love it. While Ash looses, he still tries using Pikachu while Brendan tries to help as well. I love this moment between Ash and friends preventing him. This leads to the king returning to his ball. I like Brendan, while he may start off as unlikable he's clearly determined to help out Ash still. Brendan tells Ash he wasn't defeated by the spirit he was defeated by himself because of his foolish arrogance. However it is time for the Battle Pyramid to move as it flies off! That is awesome! As if to top that Ash decides he wants to show Brandon he's not as foolish as he think and sees Ho-oh played to my favorite song Route 27 thus creating my favorite moment of all time. I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS EPISODE. The Team Rocket interludes, the pacing, the plot, Brandon, and how the supporting cast is used! This is probably also my favorite episode in this entire show.

∞/5

Magmaster12 December 18, 2014 12:25:37 PM

Slaking Kong - It's time for the Grand Festival so the group is now traveling to the grand festival. However a bunch of Aipom come by and steal Ash's Hat and May's ribbon. It turns out a bunch of monkey pokemon are stealing stuff for a Slaking robot that's being controlled by Team Rocket. Okay this plot is pretty awesome, they try to lure the monkey pokemon away and this leads for Ash to confront the pokemon who stole his hat and ends up saving its life. Plus it shows how much Ash has changed since he climbed up a tree to fight a primeape to get his hat back he even left Aipom keep his hat. However May still needs her ribbons back. In a funny moment, the giant Slaking grabs May and climbs to the top of a plateau. Only for Slaking to be knocked over by Swellow's Aerial Ace. All the monkey pokemon end up getting defeating the giant robot. Plus as there leaving Aipom leaves her hat behind for Ash. This episode might be a surprise favorite for me.

5/5

May, We Harley Drew'd Ya! - The group has arrived at the Indigo Plateau just in time for the Grand Festival. May's mom is too busy to come, I do like how they at least reference her. The Aipom from the last episode apparently followed Ash and is stealing everyone's hats as well. It's during this chaos we run into Drew and Solidad. Solidad despite the only contest arc will go on to become a very popular character even being part of May's rivals to show up later on. Solidad is actually friends with Drew plus she knows Brock because she's from Pewter City. Solidad reveals she knows Drew from his first contest who he lost too and even cried when he first lost. I like how we don't actually see this but Solidad talks about it. Solidad reveals that while Drew is confident and stubborn the only one he seems to want to listen to is May. Solidad is a total Contestshipper clearly. Also Harley leaves a purple rose for May who wears a giant Black ranch coat until the appeals rounds start, oh dear god I hope he isn't planning on streaking. May's appeal goes off well as does Solidad's. I like the interaction between May and Drew during her appeal, how Drew is willing to admit she's better then him and in turn May tells Drew about how he cried. In a hilarious moment May reveals himself dressed up just like May. It's revealed that Solidad is friends with Harley as well because he is such a unique person and his appeal goes great as well. And of course everyone of note makes it into the next round. I'm so excited for the next round.

5/5

Magmaster12 December 19, 2014 05:11:43 PM

Thinning the Hoard - It's revealed that Drew has an Absol and its appeal goes off great. We then see May's contest rivals watching the GF, that's right all two of them. Ash is still having trouble with a Aipom and decides must catch it now he fails but he gets his hat back. May's appeal goes over great. The group then finds out that he's yelling at Absol over getting it's attacks correct as if he's not well connected with his pokemon. Solidad and May have a good talk then Ash and Brock have a good talk with Drew. Of course Harley is May's first opponent in the second round. Harley's Cacturne is taken out very easily but May still has to deal with a strong Wigglytuff. Aipom shows up again but she's interested in the contest. Not to distant foreshadowing! The battle feels pretty rushed but it's still okay. However that's okay because Harley has a minimal role GF the real lead is Drew vs May.

5/5

Channeling the Battle Zone - The battle between Drew and May is awesome, both pokemon get back and fourth with no clear winner throughout. However May manages to pull through by having Combusken learn Overheat and using Sky Uppercut moving onto the semifinals finally getting her first victory against Drew the person who beat her in the GF it is very satisfying. However it's time for the Semifinals against Solidad but Aipom runs off before it can start. Aipom clearly got pumped from the battle and wants on as well and Ash finally catches it. I like how this huge crowd watches him doing this even Max questions what's going on. Also Scott then shows up. May's battle against Solidad goes very poorly because May's stratagy is just like Ash's of using flashy attacks which leads to Solidad to take advantage. This is agood parallel to point out and it's great set up for what's to come. I love how the group confronts May telling how proud they are of her and she ends up crying over her loss anyways. It's powerful character moment which I love. Solidad ends up winning the entire thing. May says goodbye to Drew as he leaves but this isn't the last we'll see of him. Despite the pace this GF was even better then the last one.

5/5

Magmaster12 December 22, 2014 12:37:27 PM

Aipom and Circumstance - Aipom is jealous of Pikachu and runs off. There's some sort of ceremony going on in the area and the winner gets a crown. Of course Aipom steals the crown which means he will be the king of the village for getting it. Seriously this kind of situation is why this idea is so stupid. The crown in turn ends up stuck on Aipom's head. Ash is so dedicated to Aipom though he's willing to wait an entire year even though he's already so close to the Battle Pyramid. After an incredibly drawn out battle with Team Rocket bland character of the day has Aipom eat a Belue Berry and its sourness allows the crown to be removed. And thus the bland character of the day gets to be the king. This is a really weird and stupid episode.

2/5

Strategy Tomorrow - Comedy Tonight - This is yet another absolutely terrible episode as if the appearance of an annoying pokemon isn't enough. A girl with a Chatot wants to be the best pokemon comedian and there is a special contest where the winner gets to appear on a talk show. However I'm not sure if she's supposed to not be funny or it's just the poor translation of Japanese comedy. The other problem is Chatot keeps running away but returns the next week. Team Rocket then steals Chatot for reason I seriously don't care about anymore. It revealed Chatot keeps running off to visit sick girls in a hospitalin the middle of no where. What parents would be cruel enough to put there children in a hospital in the middle of no where! Of course one the sick girls is angry the Chatot will have to stop coming because you know this whole thing is all about her. The group agrees to put on a preforming contest, Brock even does Brock's paradise one more time. The sick girl however refuses to come out. Max ends up convincing her otherwise. Team Rocket sows up and does what's supposed to be a bad comedy routine but I have no idea because I don't understand Japanese humor. The kids are impressed by seeing a real pokemon battle and the sick girl and all the other kids say goodbye. This episode was just like the previous one boring and stupid.

2/5

Magmaster12 December 24, 2014 12:21:06 PM

Duels of the Jungle - Oh boy yet another terrible filler with a Generation IV pokemon. This time it's Weavile that attacks Aipom. Aipom is brought to a near by Pokemon Forrest Ranger's Cabin. Also Jesse wants to catch Weavile. The group tries to find Weavile by having Pikachu sniff for it. So apparently Pikachu is a dog now. While Jesse dresses Meowth like a Weavile however Weavile refuses to come with him being territorial. It's revealed a Weavile came to take the other Weaviles territory which is why the other Weavile left to become big and strong. Good thing Meowth is here to translate or else this would be really confusing. But the Sneasal from the colony want the original Weavile to return because the old one is evil. I like how Ash encourages him to fight back and not be a coward. There you go one character moment, now our heroes aren't completely worthless and we have characterization how wonderful. Of course the older Weavile defeats the older one. They make truths and head back. Aipom is all healed so it's time to one again head back to the battle pyramid.

3/5

Overjoyed - The group has finally yet again arrived at the Battle Pyramid and Ash is quite confident he will win. It's here a Nurse Joy who is apparently a fan of May and Ash. However Brandon is too busy for a battle so the group stay in the Pokemon Center. The Pokecenter, has hot springs, a battle stage and a contest stage. Since May wants to try out the Hot Springs Ash battles the Nurse Joy instead. It's Chansey vs Corphish since both pokemon are equally weak Joy wins. This turns into a great moment where Brock points out he should use this battle to learn and that battles can't just be won with sheer power. Team Rocket then tries to steal Chansey and of course that goes no where. I like how while Ash goes off to see Brandon and Brock takes care of Chansey May ponders on what she should be doing. Also Brandon tells Ash he will be facing a Registeel. Ash sends Aipom back to Oak and it doesn't take it well while Ash gets his Torkoal back. While Torkoal is able to hold its own against Registeel it's not enough. Despite Brandon still praises Ash for trying to learn from his battle, while May is happy to see this she's still worried about herself. Great set up, great battles and great character development.

5/5

Unbeatable Sight of Seeing - After loosing again Ash feels like that he is run into a brick wall. We cut to May and it's revealed she can't help but feel the same way, seeing Ash loosing reminded her of her loss and how much she has learned from Ash. May has even called back Beatifly and Skitty. Max suggests May and Ash battle but May refuses claiming she's nowhere near as good. Oak then arrives with banner from all of Ash's pokemon , a lunch box from Ash's Mom, a fishing lure from Misty and a post card from Gary from Sinnoh where he is doing his research. Thinking about Gary reignites Ash's hope in a near perfect moment because keep in mind Ash beating Gary was his last high point. Also Drew then shows up and tells her about how May is clearly thinking about her loss to Solidad and focus on her weakness. Since there is such a nice contest hall here Drew and May agree to battle. But of course Team Rocket have to show up fortunately Harley shows up and uncovers them. The battle is a double battle between May's Beautifly and Combusken and Drew's Roselia and Butterfree. Also really? Out of all the new pokemon for Drew to get it's a Butterfree yet another Flying/Bug type for Drew? May manages to loose to Drew quite easily. Drew decides to go off to Johto revealing Solidad is heading there as well while Harley will be going as well. Harley calls out Jesse for not going to Johto as well and that she should end her loosing streak once and for all. May however decides she might pass though. May ends up saying bye to Drew as May continues to get more character development and her arc comes full circle as comes to terms that her Ash are trying to learn on there own.

5/5

Pinch Healing - Ash is trying to come to term to find his battle style. But oh no Nurse Joy has passed out sick from working so hard! Of course Brock volunteers to take her place. Of course Team Rocket sets events into motion that leads to a bus accident where a bunch of pokemon are. Of course Team Rocket wants to steal all of them. Ash goes off to look for Bagon, while Scott tries repairing the bus he talks with Brandon's assitant and Brock is with Oak who is taking care of injured Wooper and Oak tells Brock that he has grown a lot during the journey. All these moments are great I wish more fillers were like them because it adds more character to everyone. Ash manages to get the Bagon but it is manages to become sick suffering physical and emotional damage. It's revealed that both Max and May have learned a lot of taking care of pokemon from Brock, they don't say his name directly but I think it's pretty clear. Team Rocket then shows up of course and steals the pokemon. To make matters worse Bagon's fever has gotten worse but Nurse Joy manages to pull through and help. Of course Team Rocket is defeated and Bagon gets better and Scott has repaired the bus. Also Brandon found the pokemon he's looking for so he's on his way back.

5/5

Magmaster12 December 26, 2014 01:11:22 PM

Gathering a Gang of Four - Ash decides the best way to find his own strategy would be if he calls upon his Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Charizard and get back to his routes. He figures the best way to do this would be going off on his own and camping. They have to do a bunch of stuff together like, creating a bed, getting berries, starting a fire, and flashbacks. Of course Team Rocket has to come out of no where and attack and easily get defeated complete with fourth wall braking for some reason. The dubbers seriously love changing Team Rocket's dialogue. Ash ends up running into Brandon seeing him come up with a strategy to defeat Team Rocket. Brandon decides to challenge Ash to a 4 on 4 battle. It also turns out that if Ash defeats Brandon he can become a Frontier Brain also Scott is the owner of the Battle Frontier. However Charizard narrowly looses to Dusclops.

5/5

Pace The Final Frontier - The battle with Brandon continues to be epic with great attacks and strategy. Also we get Team Rocket interludes, really pointless interludes. The final battle is Regice vs Pikachu, Pikachu manages to win. THIS MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. No matter how many wins Pikachu will be given it will always lose a battle to prove how strong someone else's at the cost of Ash's pride. Also next season it nearly looses to a Magicarp. I like how Oak, Jenny and Joy are all watching the battle providing a change for the commentary. While Scott offers him a position of Frontier Brain, Ash decides he would much rather travel because that's just how he rolls but nice knowing the position is left open for him even while continuing his journey.

5/5


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