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Review DP189: Shin'ō League Semi-Finals! Enter Darkrai!!

It took me a lot to get around to watch this, but finally, I managed.

Since I was late to the party, I won't be bothering myself with this one much.

Let's see, first:
-I liked the creppy background when Darkrai used Dream Eater.
-I liked how Gible finally pulled off a long range Draco Meteor.
-I loved how Sceptile's new moves didn't do jack shit help. :D.
-I liked how we went into Sceptile's mind and saw Ash calling him.
-I liked how Ash actually managed to defeat Darkrai. I did not expect this at all.
-I liked how Latios finally managed to make a TV debut. And of course it's entrence was fabulous.
When I first read it at Serebii, I did not saw it using Luster Purge in Takuto's bio so I assumed he didn't know the move. But he did. Thank God. The move finally made a debut.
-I loved Latios vs. Swellow for it being a dogfight(their screams at the begginning towards each other;”Beatch you are not gonna win durr.”) and Pikachu vs. Latios for;
a. Pikachu epic failed at the beginning. Him epic failing always manages to crack a smile at my face.
b. Uhm, I don't think the second reason is needed to be listed, so instead I will just add how Pikachu used a similiar techinique to Glameow.
-I liked Brock's talk to himself. Foreshadowing for next episode? Yes please.

Secondly;
-I really disliked how beginning was an uber rush hour and I disliked how battles did not look much natural(or organic?). They just exchanged blows and that was it(with of course exception of Latios vs. Swellow, Pikachu vs. Latios and partially Gible vs. Darkrai) But then again, this was a sweep.
-I really disliked how Hoenn's main Pokémon+Swellow took all the glory.
-I really disliked how first part of the batlle had only one decent track replayed again and again. Pikachu vs. Latios fixed this though. Tracks played there were pretty awesome.

Yes, I think I bitched and fangasmed enough. This battle was decent-good, not great.
 
How did the main Hoenn Pokemon + Swellow take the glory?

What Heracross and Gible did cannot be ignored. Both landed Super Effective hits. Sure Sceptile did most of the work.

Swellow did shit. It didn't land even one hit.
 
By this point, I'm not surprised if Torkoal faints quickly. Its sad to see the fall guy not get any redemption. Though it did very well Registeel. (My favourite of the Regi Battles)
 
A prime example as to why a full battle shouldn't be handled within 20 minutes. I feel sorry for Torkoal, it only got at the most ten seconds of a battle and was defeated in one hit. Swellow, well, we saw its aerial movements back in Advanced Generation.
 
A prime example as to why a full battle shouldn't be handled within 20 minutes. I feel sorry for Torkoal, it only got at the most ten seconds of a battle and was defeated in one hit. Swellow, well, we saw its aerial movements back in Advanced Generation.

Torkoal was never presented to be a very strong fire pokemon. Cyndaquil (I have to admit) was strong for it's size, and Charizard and Infernape are powerhouses. Torkoal sadly isn't one. If Ash used Charizard, then I'm pretty sure that he would have beaten Darkrai with it... and probably Latios too.

Or better yet, use Infernape with his blaze ability and fighting type. That would have screwed over Darkrai. And use Snorlax instead of Gible.

Otherwise, Ash actually assembled a pretty damn good team here. This is where it shows that Ash uses his brain for the most part.
 
Other than Pikachu vs Latios and the great animation throughout the episode, this was a pretty standard battle. Even Sceptile beating Darkrai wasn't all that great since the whole thing just went by so fast.

Takuto is a interesting charcter though. But why did the writers not even bother to give him any sort of backstory? He comes out of nowhere, has Darkrai and Latios for shits and giggles, sweeps the entire league and leaves just like that!?

Who the hell is this guy and how did he get the random legendaries.
 
Other than Pikachu vs Latios and the great animation throughout the episode, this was a pretty standard battle. Even Sceptile beating Darkrai wasn't all that great since the whole thing just went by so fast.

Takuto is a interesting charcter though. But why did the writers not even bother to give him any sort of backstory? He comes out of nowhere, has Darkrai and Latios for shits and giggles, sweeps the entire league and leaves just like that!? Who the hell is this guy and how did he get the random legendaries.

Like I said before, I seriously think that Takuto is Ash and Paul's foil. Just like how Ash represents the people who play for fun, Paul represents the competetive players and Takuto represents the people who hack with cheat devices. For all we know he could've caught Darkrai in Twinleaf Town.
 
Like I said before, I seriously think that Takuto is Ash and Paul's foil. Just like how Ash represents the people who play for fun, Paul represents the competetive players and Takuto represents the people who hack with cheat devices. For all we know he could've caught Darkrai in Twinleaf Town.

I agree. :lol: That's a good way to look at things.
 
Torkoal was never presented to be a very strong fire pokemon. Cyndaquil (I have to admit) was strong for it's size, and Charizard and Infernape are powerhouses. Torkoal sadly isn't one. If Ash used Charizard, then I'm pretty sure that he would have beaten Darkrai with it... and probably Latios too.
In the context of the same fight? Charizard would go down just as fast as Torkoal.

Now, if the episode had been longer like some people wanted, like an episode and half or even a two-parter, then Charizard could come in and do some damage. Of course, with that leeway, so could Torkoal, and Gible, and Swellow, and any other Pokemon sent out on to the battlefield.

That's just how it is. The enemy is time. It's unfair to blame the Pokemon (and in this case, maybe even the writers) themselves.
 
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I just finished watching the battle. I wish Gible would have atleast evolved once beforD the fight... And cmon Toarkoal? Other than that, Heracross and especially Sceptile were fun to watch. And Pikachu taking out Latios was EPIC.
 
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Takuto...must be the human representation of...MISSINGNO!!!

...what? It could happen. Just how else could a trainer sneak two banned Pokemon into the league?
 
And after reading the full summary for the episode...I take back what I said. I thought he would rub it in on Ash's face, but...he didn't. Instead, he gave positive words, which made me feel much better. Plus, that little rat BEAT Latios.
 
Takuto...must be the human representation of...MISSINGNO!!!

...what? It could happen. Just how else could a trainer sneak two banned Pokemon into the league?

When are you people going to learn that the show has went against the rules alot of times. That's no reason to hate on Takuto.
 
When are you people going to learn that the show has went against the rules alot of times. That's no reason to hate on Takuto.

Um...how about reading my last post then? I stopped hating once I heard he wasn't such a bad guy after all.
 
Please note: The thread is from 14 years ago.
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