Review AG162: Pokémon Contest! Yuzuriha Convention!!

[GoldChaos]

Well, the gang as reached the next contest where May will try again for a third ribbon.

While Drew/Shuu and Wakana will be the featured characters of the episode, Jessie will throw in her lot as she enters the contest with James Manene.

 

[Unregistered]

I saw preview pics on pokemon palace a while ago. Wakana looks cute. Drew is in the preview for a tiny bit. It appears she owns a hoothoot which she uses for appeal. May uses Munchlax for appeal. There is a castform which could be Drew's. Jessie uses Manene for battle. Jessie wears the same outfit as she did in Saffron. Manene during battle hugs May's combusken and combusken freaks out pretty funny I thought. Manene also uses a fire attack most likely through mimic. The main featured battle is May vs. Wakana. Wakana uses Vibrava for battle. Vibrava seems to be putting up a good fight the way the preview looks.

 

[Jo-Jo]

So Drew is in it!

YES!

Now excuse me while I go off and viciously slaughter whoever it was told me he wasn't.

Castform isn't a Pokemon I would have picked out for Drew. I assume it is his, since Harley's gotten two new Pokemon in the BF and Drew hasn't gotten one yet.

BTW, is it true that letter in the Harley-ep wasn't from him?

I'm amused to see that Wakana has a Vibrava. It was speculated that she might try to emulate Drew by catching the same Pokemon as him.

 

[ZoraJolteon]

Don't shoot the messenger because the message giver is incorrect.

 

[Kasumi]

So Drew is in it!
BTW, is it true that letter in the Harley-ep wasn't from him?

Wha? There was a rose in the letter May received. If that wasn't Drew then who was it? James?

 

[Cybersai]

Aw, Wakana owns a Vibrava the pre-evolution of Drew's Flygon? Cute. What a sweet fangirl Wakana is, catching the same Pokemon as her hero just so they have something in common and can become soulmates. ^_^

Seriously though, Wakana is awfully cute. And not "cute" as in "May cute", but "cute" as in she looks like a little girl. She looks like she's Max's age rather than May's.

If she is 10, this is even further proof that May must have started developing around age 7.

 

[FabuVinny]

The shipping implications of this episode could be very interesting...

 

[Jo-Jo]

Don't I know it.

I was slightly hoping that Wakana would be a bit of a bunny-boiler type, ordering May to back off while she stalked Drew all over the building. But she looks more like a sweet little fangirl. Pity.

Wha? There was a rose in the letter May received. If that wasn't Drew then who was it? James?

A couple of people said they'd read on Japanese websites that Drew didn't send it. It seemed very strange to me, not to mention begs the question of how they would know. There was nothing in the preview pics about the letter.

 

[Pie]

What a sweet fangirl Wakana is, catching the same Pokemon as her hero just so they have something in common and can become soulmates. ^_^

Bahaha, you wish. Someday it will hit you that not all roads lead to AdvanceShipping. And that if having similar Pokémon were enough to build a relationship on, Ash and Ritchie would be married by now.

Seriously, though, I get a feeling this one's gonna have blatant ContestShippy hints. And I look forward to it - ContestShipping's one of the few things I actually enjoy involving May.

 

[STJ]

Bahaha, you wish. Someday it will hit you that not all roads lead to AdvanceShipping.

and vice versa

well, the preview's yet to be put up, but it does look to be an interesting episode

 

[Cybersai]

Seriously, though, I get a feeling this one's gonna have blatant ContestShippy hints. And I look forward to it - ContestShipping's one of the few things I actually enjoy involving May.

It's kinda hard to say judging by the preview, I really don't expect any jealousy moments with how sweet and innocent Wakana seems to be. Judging by the insane amount of stuff they have to fit into this episode: Jessie/Manene, Castform person (Drew?), Wakana with Hoot Hoot and Vibrava, and May with Munchlax appealing and Combusken battling all in one 22 minute episode, I don't see enough time for anything else.

Of course I can be proved wrong, but if they planned to go the jealousy route, Wakana would have been more of the Bitchy Eriko/Macy type. Quite honestly I don't think this episode will be shippy one way or the other at all. From the looks of it Wakana is keeping her "admiration" of Drew to herself. May shows no signs of anything out of the ordinary in the preview.

 

[STJ]

Well, for those wondering about the rose, the preview translation (by Umi Mizuno) gives an idea

Haruka: On the next contest we go to the Yusuriha contest! And there we meet up with a rival, Shuu. ( or it's we see an old rival ) Shuu! This time I won't lose to you! Eh?! You're not competing in the contest? Then who sent the letter and the rose? Next time on Pokemon Advanced Generation: 439 Pokémon Contest! Yusuriha Convention!! - Feb. 2. 2006

So it seems, that indeed, he didn't send it

 

[Pie]

Whoa, really? That could change things around...

So, the girl is a Drew wannabe, basically? Still has good ContestShippyness potential. I mean, even if it wasn't in the preview, the previews have steered us way off-course multiple times in the past. Random thought - what if the girl has a thing for May? Wouldn't be the first time. XD

 

[Jo-Jo]

I wouldn't rule out jealousy just because Wakana seems so nice. Danny was a lovely guy, and look how Ash reacted. Plus, the last big Contestshipping block of episodes involved a love-triangle, so why not flip it around?

That said, most of the time, jealousy objects in Pokemon tend to be of the 'tall, older, good-looking and/or confident' variety. E.g. Danny, Rudy, Melody, Harley, etc. The kind of people you can imagine someone feeling insecure around. Wakana, if anything, looks like more of an underdog to May - if anyone ought to feel jealous, it should be her.

Whether it's through jealousy or some other means, though, I will be very surprised if there is no Contestshipping in the episode. The business with the letter and the rose seems like too much of an obvious pre-cursor, and I really don't see the point of even introducing a main character-of-the-day with a crush on Drew unless it's going to have repercussions of some kind for May. I maintain Drew is an important character, but I wouldn't consider him quite that important. His lovelife has no relevance unless it is linked to a main character's.

On a non-shippy note, I wonder who the Castform trainer is, if it's not Drew? And for that matter, when is Drew going to get a new Pokemon? Harley's beating him at the moment.

OK, I admit, I want Drew to get an Eevee so that I can watch Scott's head go boom. (I kid... partly... and now I really am done with the shipping, honest...)

Is it confirmed that May will use Munchlax for appealing and Combusken for battling? Hmm, Wakana must be a tough cookie to hold her own against May's strongest Pokemon, even if we know she's going to lose in the end.

 

[Cybersai]

Except for the fact that admire =/= love? That's really all we know about concerning Wakana and Drew. She admires him, but that could be in a platonic "I want to be as strong as him someday" sense. Drew is considered to be one of the best coordinators around (at least from Harley's point of view, since he says something like that. ), so in makes perfect sense that a rookie coordinator wants to be like him.

So much as Wakana catching a Vibrava just because Drew has a Flygon, she's trying to be just like him. Drew's role in this episode seems minimal as I assume he's only going to be sitting in the audience, so I doubt Wakana will get fussy over May knowing the guy, especially since Wakana seems kinda shy and demure.

 

[Pie]

Except for the fact that admire =/= love? That's really all we know about concerning Wakana and Drew. She admires him, but that could be in a platonic "I want to be as strong as him someday" sense. Drew is considered to be one of the best coordinators around (at least from Harley's point of view, since he says something like that. ), so in makes perfect sense that a rookie coordinator wants to be like him.

So much as Wakana catching a Vibrava just because Drew has a Flygon, she's trying to be just like him. Drew's role in this episode seems minimal as I assume he's only going to be sitting in the audience, so I doubt Wakana will get fussy over May knowing the guy, especially since Wakana seems kinda shy and demure.

I doubt his role will be minimal, because why else would they give us a foreshadowing that he'll be involved? Just to tease us? And even if his role is minimal, five words to show that there's still ContestShippy potential:

Who will Drew cheer for? ;-)

Besides, they've hardly passed up good chances for ContestShippyness before, so I don't see why they'd start now.

 

[Jo-Jo]

Oh, Scott, don't be silly. How can Wakana possibly admire Drew in a platonic sense only if she owns the same Pokemon as him? Soulmatey bond much??

I just want to know why Drew's there at all if he isn't in the contest. Perhaps he won his last ribbon from that town and decided to hang around once he learned May was in the area?

(edit)

And even if his role is minimal, five words to show that there's still ContestShippy potential:

Who will Drew cheer for?

Come to think of it, the last time Drew was at a contest but not competing, we did get a Contestshipping hint, because he showed up to watch May without letting her know he was there.

 

[Swifty]

Okay, so May has a girl rival this episode... How come her admiring Drew in a platonic sense is so important that it's a major plot point? Oh, wow, she admires Drew. Woo.

 

[Cybersai]

I doubt his role will be minimal, because why else would they give us a foreshadowing that he'll be involved? Just to tease us?

Well since the guy isn't even competing, he's not doing much is he?

Who will Drew cheer for? ;-)

May of course, but I don't see why this is such a major thing. He watched May by himself in the Dusclops contest, but it's not like he cheered or yelled out compliments to her on stage. He just sat very quietly and watched.

Besides, they've hardly passed up good chances for ContestShippyness before, so I don't see why they'd start now.

Unless of course May has no reaction to Wakana, just like she had no reaction to the Rubello mothers. Wakana is not the fangirl type, why people are expecting her to jump on Drew like Macy did to Ash is beyond me. I think people are expecting too much out of an episode that doesn't appear to be shippy. Just because Drew's there doesn't mean it'll be shippy. I guess since Drew hasn't been in an episode in 6 months (they barely put him in episodes anymore) people are starved to see him again.

Hint: Arcanine episode, Rubello episodes, Wynaut episode, his debut ep, Phantom episodes (watching a contest don't count ). I don't consider the Medicham episodes shippy either, but I don't want Jo-Jo to yell at me.

 

[Jo-Jo]

Unless of course May has no reaction to Wakana, just like she had no reaction to the Rubello mothers.

Funny you should bring that up, because I watched a scene from that episode yesterday. Actually, May does have a reaction. Not a big blown-up Misty type reaction, but a little one nonetheless. When the mothers are first crowding around Drew, there's a shot of May from behind with a biiig sweatdrop. Then it cuts to the entire group; Brock, Ash and Max look mildly surprised, but May is pulling a face. Nothing hugely noticable, but her expression is more, erm, icked than the others. And later, of course, there's the part where Savannah's gushing over how great Drew is and May mutters, "spare me".

No, it's not a big jealousy thing. Barely even a little jealousy thing. But at least she has a response to the mothers, which as I've said many times before is more than you can say for Ash over Sid, Harley or Drew.

As for the rate of Contestshippy to non-Contestshipping episodes, I'd rank them like this:

Now That's Flower Power - essentially non-shippy.

Win, Lose or Drew - shippy.

Pros and Con Artists - shippy.

Come What May - Woaaaahshippy.

Disaster of Disguise - non-shippy.

Disguise Da Limit - teeny bit shippy. Mainly because it's the most obvious example we have in the anime, apart from the Grand Festival, of Drew doing the staring/paying attention to May thing that's so noticable in all of his appearances.

Fan With A Plan - not... reeeally shippy, I suppose.

Cruisin' For a Losin' - a tiny bit shippy, but only because May's "spare me" line was such classic irony.

Wynaut ep - not shippy, but essential relationship-building.

The Grand Festival - ZOMG BIG HONKING EXPLOSION OF SHIPPY.

Arcanine ep - not shippy, but more relationship stuff.

Harley and Taking the Game Seriously - could be shippy, but we need to know exactly what's going on with the rose/letter.


So out of fourteen episodes, that makes six that are definitely shippy in my book - nearly half - and six/seven more with important elements that help lay the groundwork for Contestshipping even if they wouldn't hold much water in a debate. Only two of them are completely devoid of shippiness, and all of them have progressed the May/Drew relationship in some way.

I don't consider the Medicham episodes shippy either, but I don't want Jo-Jo to yell at me.

*yells at you*