Review AG104: Seal the Giant Nendoll!!

[Dogasu]

AG 104 (105?): "Seal the Huge Claydol" (SPOILERS)

I didn't get to see the episode this week because I was in the middle of a giant Thanksgiving feast. Damn Pilgrims

But, for everyone else who gets to see the episode, here's the place to discuss it.

 

[Archaic]

I managed to capture the episode. Unless Kinglerlord2 gets to it before I do, a summary will be posted sometime either tomorrow or on the weekend. I'm out of medicine and I don't recieve the update to my perscription until Saturday, so I'm not exactly in a mood to be typing now.

 

[Geodude]

Turns out the basic plot of the episode was that there were actually two of those giant, ancient Pokeballs. Claydol rested in one, in the middle of a lake, and TR destroyed the Pokeball in an attempt to steal it. But doing so released Claydol and started its chain of destruction. TR teamed up with the twerps and the old man to lure Claydol to the other Pokeball, on top of a mountain, and recapture it. Turns out TR had only done so so they could conveniently take away Claydol in the other Pokeball, but they got owned in the end.

 

[Roses Ablaze]

Looks like a bizzare one. Jessie dressed as a ballerina, May dressed as a nurse, Meowth dressed as a cheerleader, Wobuffet duressed as a...something that Claydol falls in love with, and Ash and James dressed as eggplants. Can't wait to see what happens.

 

[Zeta]

Sounds a lot like the gigantic Gengar and Alakazam in the Lost City of Pokemopolis episode.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

Sounds a lot like the gigantic Gengar and Alakazam in the Lost City of Pokemopolis episode.

True, but it's only a passing resemblance. Overall it was an extremely unique episode.

 

[Roses Ablaze]

And besides, this one was funnier (though the Alakazam one was cooler).

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Did Musashi have a different VA for this one? She sounded *really* different.

 

[Geodude]

Still on Izabe Island, Ash and friends are exploring a foggy mountainous area when they come across one particular mountain with a giant Pokeball on top! As they wonder what this is all about, an old man appears behind them and says he can tell them all they need to know. His name is Shigemori. The purpose of the giant Pokeball was to seal away a great power, and he’ll tell them more if they do something for him. They nod, so he rips off his cloak to reveal trays of merchandise! He’s a tour guide/souvenir vendor type guy, so he says he’ll tell them all he knows about the area if they buy something, but the group just facefaults at his antics. He then shows them an ancient book which he says tells of the sealing of the “great power” by a wise man of long ago. Ash and friends are intrigued. After a scene change, the group sits around eating (it looks like they bought some of his Pokeball-shaped food) while Shigemori talks about the area some more. As he explains via a flashback, long ago, the Pokeball on the mountain originally contained a highly dangerous giant Claydol, but someone released it in an unsuccessful attempt to use its power. Unable to get it back in, the wise man from the book somehow summoned an identical Pokeball, which successfully recaptured the Claydol, saving the small village that it almost destroyed. That Pokeball is now resting in the middle of a nearby lake, and no one has disturbed it since. The flashback ends, and the wise man asks if they’d like to know more. Ash and friends do, so he does his salesman transformation again, wanting them to buy something else in exchange, but Ash and friends just facefault again.

Team Rocket has been listening in on this whole thing from a ledge above them. They’re excited about the power of the sealed Claydol, and head off to the lake in their balloon. They locate it easily, at the same time as the wise man leads Ash and friends there. Shigemori asks who Team Rocket is, and Ash says that to make a long story short, they’re bad guys. Jessie and James angrily respond via megaphones and say their motto. Meowth pushes a button that drops several bombs from their balloon, as the wise man exclaims that it looks like they’re trying to release the Claydol! The bombs merely end up blasting a hole in the Pokeball though, to Team Rocket’s surprise. Meowth is about to drop some more bombs, but James stops him and points at the Pokeball, which is starting to show cracks! The cracks extend across the whole ball, and it bursts open. The lake’s water splits in half as the giant Claydol materializes. The group comments on how huge it is, and Shigemori’s book shows a size comparison between that one and a normal Claydol, which can easily fit into one of the giant Claydol’s red eyes. Ash then checks Claydol in the Pokedex, which explains that it’s the evolved form of Baltoy. Up in their balloon, TR is frozen in fear at the Claydol, obviously not having realized just how huge it was, but Jessie snaps out of it and tells Meowth that it may be gigantic, but it’s still a Pokemon, and they’re still going to steal it. Meowth activates a claw from their balloon that grips the Claydol, and they try to lift it, but can’t—it’s far too heavy! Jessie yells at Claydol to at least help them out a bit by not resisting, and Claydol responds by firing an Ice Beam up at the balloon! Claydol follows up with Hyper Beam, blasting Team Rocket off again…wait, not this time. Due to their positioning, they’re blasted off straight up, and come down to land on top of Claydol! If Claydol noticed, it just ignores them, as it now starts to float towards shore. The old man is alarmed because of how destructive the Claydol is. Claydol fires another Hyper Beam in front of it that blazes a trail for it through the forest. Ash says that this Claydol may be huge, but a Pokemon is a Pokemon, so he tries throwing a Pokeball at it. The Pokeball’s red energy envelops Claydol but can’t dematerialize it…it’s just too big and powerful. Max comments on this, and the wise man says that the only way to capture it is with the other giant Pokeball, up on the mountain. Ash and Brock say that there’s gotta be some way to prevent all the destruction it can cause, and Shigemori reads from his book that Claydol is a Ground-type, so it’s weak against Water. This gives Brock an idea.

Meanwhile, on top of Claydol, James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet look sad and resigned to their fate, while Jessie angrily pounds on Claydol, insisting that it let them down. Up on a ledge nearby, Brock sends out Mudkip and Lombre, and tells them to attack Claydol with Water Gun. It seems to be working, as Claydol slows down, but then it begins to go into a Rapid Spin. On top, TR hang on for dear life, but end up being thrown off again, as the Rapid Spin gets fast enough that it can send the Water Gun right back where it came from. The group dodges as the reflected attack pierces a hole right through the cliff behind them! This time, TR ends up landing behind Ash & co, and they confront each other. TR holds a quick whispered conference where James says that if they say they’ll help out, they may get another chance to nab Claydol. They turn to Ash and the others and say they’ll be happy to help stop this Claydol because, after all, their motto says they’ve got to protect the world from devastation. Ash is skeptical of course, but agrees to let them help.

By now, Claydol has started to move again, as TR and the “twerps” gather around Shigemori, who is consulting his book again. He reads that the wise man of old also tried to attack the giant Claydol, but failed, and Brock gets one of those “NOW he tells me” looks. As the wise man continues to read, we see that a sort-of-distant village is right in the Claydol’s path! The book says that when attacking Claydol failed, the wise man lured it away with its favorite food, eggplant, so Ash and James dangle a basket of eggplant in Claydol’s path, but Claydol ignores it and goes on by. The book went on to say that small ones didn’t work, so Brock gets another idea. A scene change now shows Ash and James in giant eggplant costumes! Once they’ve attracted Claydol’s attention, they lure it after them. As the others watch their progress, Shigemori discovers something else in the book—Claydol didn’t like eggplant, it HATED it! Ash and James have now come to a dead end, and uncertainly turn around to face Claydol. The others appear at the top of the sheer cliff above them and shout that Claydol actually hates eggplants, so they’re in danger! Ash and James rip off their costumes and run, just as Claydol begins to stomp on the costumes! Ash and James poke their heads out from their hiding place and see their tattered costumes, realizing that could have been them.

Claydol approaches the dead end now and fires a Hyper Beam at it, clearing a path right to that small village! We see the villagers running in fear as it approaches. The group gathers around Shigemori again, and Meowth nearly makes a slip of the tongue to reveal their plan. Shigemori reads from the book that there was a priestess in the village, a woman of great beauty, who led the Claydol away. Jessie gets excited at this, saying that if it’s beauty they need, she’s the one for the job. Soon, Claydol stops when it hears music, and we see that Wobbuffet, Meowth, May, and Jessie have all dressed up in priestess costumes and are playing various instruments. Jessie stops and tells May that since the story said a woman of great beauty, she (Jessie) is the only one needed. May retorts that a priestess should be a pure maiden, and Jessie angrily asks if May is accusing her of not being pure. Brock wonders if four of them are really needed, and Shigemori says that since they don’t know what the priestess looked like, it’s better to have variety. He then calls out that it’s time to transform, and the four “priestesses” throw off their costumes to reveal four very different ones. Jessie is a ballerina, May is a nurse, Meowth is a cheerleader, and Wobbuffet is a maid. Ash and the others call support from above, and Claydol begins to approach them. It first considers Jessie, but doesn’t like her, so it Hyper Beams her away. Next comes Meowth, who also meets with Claydol’s displeasure and ends up on the wrong end of an Ice Beam. It’s May’s turn now, but Claydol doesn’t like her either, so it uses Psychic to pick her up and throw her away. Ash, Brock, and Max rush to catch her, but Jessie and Meowth land in front of them. We then see that Wobbuffet is still down in the canyon, and Claydol is after it! The disguised Wobbuffet runs ahead, still playing its flute, as it leads Claydol towards the base of where the giant Pokeball rests. Claydol gets big hearts in its eyes, and Meowth, Jessie, and May are all disappointed that the blue blob ended up the “winner”.

Everyone runs along the top of the cliff, keeping pace with Wobbuffet and shouting encouragement. They head to the top where the Pokeball rests, and place a log under it. They rest the log on a rock to use it as a lever and fulcrum to start the Pokeball rolling down the hill. Wobbuffet and Claydol now come into view, and it looks like Claydol is gaining on Wobbuffet! Ash sends out Swellow to get Wobbuffet out of there. Swellow dives down, and Ash cheers when it looks like the rescue will be successful, but we then see that Swellow had only grabbed Wobbuffet’s wig! Swellow gives a look of surprise, and Claydol looks angry now. The now wigless Wobbuffet continues to run, with J&J’s encouragement, leading Claydol forward. Wobbuffet puts on a burst of speed and runs past the bottom of the hill, and Brock calls for everyone to push. They do, but can’t dislodge the Pokeball. Brock, May, Pikachu, and Shigemori push the ball while the others push on the log-lever again, and after a monumental effort, they finally get it rolling. Everyone cheers, but the ball comes to a stop against a rock outcropping, well short of its target! Brock sends out Mudkip and Lombre again to attack the rock with Water Gun. They do, and manage to destroy part of it. The ball moves slightly, and a Thunder from Pikachu destroys the rest of the rock. The ball now rolls down the hill, quickly gathering speed. Claydol notices, but it’s too late, and the ball captures it! The ball comes to a rest partway down the mountain, and Ash and friends wonder where Team Rocket went. Max points with alarm, and we see that TR is back in their balloon, with that same claw gripping the giant Pokeball! Ash and friends now know that Team Rocket only helped out so they could try to steal the Claydol again, conveniently sealed in the giant ball. TR’s balloon drags the ball toward the edge of the path, but once it goes over the edge, it drags them down—fast! The ball is far too heavy for their balloon to lift. It drags them all the way back down the mountain, then finally the claw’s cable breaks, sending TR blasting off again from the released weight. The ball continues rolling, going back through the forest, before finally coming to a stop in the middle of the lake, where the first ball was.

Later, at sunset, everyone discusses their adventure, and hopes that the Claydol will never be released again, but also that it can now find peace. May hopes Claydol can now rest in peace inside its ball.