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Review JN018: Satoshi Participates! The Pokémon World Championships!!

Great episode. However, ashamed that the battle did not featured the nostalgia Pikachu versus Raichu for the conclusion of the episode like in the original series. Guess, they had change the pace for not repeat the same battle again. Nonetheless, Ash ranked up as Piesco goes down.

Overall rating: B+
 
The summary was pretty much misleading with the entire "Pikachu vs. Raichu" which again is a nostalgia bait attempt but whatever, those strategies Ash used against Raichu were pretty much reminiscent of his original Gym win there. The episode itself was fantastic, but Gou going after Spearow was pointless and didn't do anything of value. Raboot's behavior at the Gym could be a hint that it wants to participate in a PWC battle for Ash/Pikachu, just hope it's not done in a poor manner like Mr. Mime just to avoid bringing reserves back. I didn't understand much of Japanese, but is that supposed to be Surge's Raichu? It did sound like they were making it to be. Also, did anyone catch Giovanni's silhouette? It would be really cool if Giovanni is one of Ash's PWC opponents since they never had an official battle before.

@The Archer, what was that about Surge being "hard to redesign" and "straining on the staff"? Because... that's pretty much him in his original Gym battle attire.
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Both Ash and Pisces make several references to Surge and Ash's Gym quest back in Kanto (I guess that's something) so I don't really see why Surge just had to be left out with a contrived reason, felt absolutely pointless. Subs may help mellow me out though, since I want to know what they were saying. Regardless, so many continuity references in a single episode, I'm drooling.
 
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Highly enjoyable episode, the references were all much appreciated and it was nice that Gou's capture was offscreen so we didn't have to deal with Aicholtz's bonuses or first-ball-catch rubbish. Seeing Ash as considered something of a legend in Vermilion Gym after his battle is pretty cool and definitely appreciated. The battle was pretty good too, even if Electro Web Ex Machina was old the first time they did it, let alone now. But I'll let it slide because the rest of the battle was good. Seeing the silhouettes of the Kanto Gym Leaders leaves me hoping that maybe we'll get to see Ash battle Sabrina and Erika properly. We got to see him fight Misty properly during Sun and Moon, so it would be great if they could keep showing Ash retroactively earning the badges he didn't earn during his original run through Kanto. Perhaps we will get to see him battle Drayden too if/when he starts going after Unova gyms records.

It's hard to say where Raboot's feelings lie at the moment, whether or not it's still disappointed in its trainer's attitude or if it's just acting like a typical Raboot. Either way it's pretty clear that it wants to be a battler, so it will be good to see where that goes in the future.
 
P_S_B said:
Highly enjoyable episode, the references were all much appreciated and it was nice that Gou's capture was offscreen so we didn't have to deal with Aicholtz's bonuses or first-ball-catch rubbish. Seeing Ash as considered something of a legend in Vermilion Gym after his battle is pretty cool and definitely appreciated. The battle was pretty good too, even if Electro Web Ex Machina was old the first time they did it, let alone now. But I'll let it slide because the rest of the battle was good. Seeing the silhouettes of the Kanto Gym Leaders leaves me hoping that maybe we'll get to see Ash battle Sabrina and Erika properly. We got to see him fight Misty properly during Sun and Moon, so it would be great if they could keep showing Ash retroactively earning the badges he didn't earn during his original run through Kanto. Perhaps we will get to see him battle Drayden too if/when he starts going after Unova gyms records.

It's hard to say where Raboot's feelings lie at the moment, whether or not it's still disappointed in its trainer's attitude or if it's just acting like a typical Raboot. Either way it's pretty clear that it wants to be a battler, so it will be good to see where that goes in the future.
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If I remember correctly, didn't the creators say that Ash will be fighting "a certain dragon trainer" in the future? I personally think it's Iris, but it could be Drayden.
 
Schemer99 said:
If I remember correctly, didn't the creators say that Ash will be fighting "a certain dragon trainer" in the future? I personally think it's Iris, but it could be Drayden.
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I highly doubt it could be Iris, because for all we know, she's far below Ash's ranking and caliber. Logic tells me it could be Raihan though he might be a bit too high in ranking for Ash, it could be Clair or Drayden though.
Charcoatl said:
Will the fact that Ash remembered his battle with Lt. Surge along with Pisces referencing that battle upon seeing Ash stop the complaints about lack of continuity?
One can dream..
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It would stop the complaints, as long as they stop taking contrived roundabouts to remove certain elements of that continuity and instead include it properly.
santiagus said:
I guess it does...

WAIT A MINUTE GIOVANNI IS STILL THE GYM LEADER?
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Not necessarily. Remember, anyone can be a part of the PWC and Giovanni just has to be a powerful trainer to be higher in the rankings.
 
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santiagus said:
I guess it does...

WAIT A MINUTE GIOVANNI IS STILL THE GYM LEADER?
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I doubt for example Koga would still be the gym leader, I get the feeling it was more about who the gym leaders were in perspective of Ash when he was doing them. The exception of course Team Rocket standing in for Giovanni.

It's very likely its someone else now.
 
P_S_B said:
Highly enjoyable episode, the references were all much appreciated and it was nice that Gou's capture was offscreen so we didn't have to deal with Aicholtz's bonuses or first-ball-catch rubbish. Seeing Ash as considered something of a legend in Vermilion Gym after his battle is pretty cool and definitely appreciated. The battle was pretty good too, even if Electro Web Ex Machina was old the first time they did it, let alone now. But I'll let it slide because the rest of the battle was good. Seeing the silhouettes of the Kanto Gym Leaders leaves me hoping that maybe we'll get to see Ash battle Sabrina and Erika properly. We got to see him fight Misty properly during Sun and Moon, so it would be great if they could keep showing Ash retroactively earning the badges he didn't earn during his original run through Kanto. Perhaps we will get to see him battle Drayden too if/when he starts going after Unova gyms records.

It's hard to say where Raboot's feelings lie at the moment, whether or not it's still disappointed in its trainer's attitude or if it's just acting like a typical Raboot. Either way it's pretty clear that it wants to be a battler, so it will be good to see where that goes in the future.
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Raboot definitely wants to be a fighter. The question I have is will Gou reach the top 8 in the PWC if he chooses to join. If Gou does participate in the PWC, I hope Hop becomes his rival.
 
dman_dustin said:
I doubt for example Koga would still be the gym leader, I get the feeling it was more about who the gym leaders were in perspective of Ash when he was doing them. The exception of course Team Rocket standing in for Giovanni.

It's very likely its someone else now.
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Maybe we'll get to see Ash fight Janine.
 
Unless I missed something, how come Electrode was able to hit Gengar by bouncing around when Raichu's tail passed through it? :unsure:

I'm glad the battles this series are starting off strong. They've made creative use of techniques and shown off the unique characteristics of the Pokemon involved, which is all I could have asked for. Now all they need is a strong narrative to go with it.

Most of all, I'm just glad they a) didn't milk yet another Pikachu vs Raichu match and b) gave an Electrode a full battle without just having it blow up. Bravo for that. Also, you can see why Iron Tail has remained part of Pikachu's move-set for so long. That thing is incredibly versatile.

I could have done without the multiple cutaways to Raboot, though. I didn't need to see it pretend not to be interested in the fight more than once to know it probably has an interest in battling. One time would have been enough. I also wish they gave Pisces more background beyond their connection to Surge.

What I'd like to see now is some of the other participants in this competition. I want them to cut to another region where another participant in fighting someone, as it would set-up Ash's future opponents and give us something to look forward to.
 
dman_dustin said:
I'd like Ash to battle Sabrina (properly) as well, maybe even Forrest, Erika, Misty, etc, etc.
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To add to this, perhaps maybe not Misty, I think the S&M episode probably makes up for them not having a proper fight in the Kanto region I just neglected to think of it until now. So I'm fine with it.

And while its not Brock, still would be interesting to see Ash battling Forrest, and any other Pokemon gym battle Ash didn't have a proper battle with.

Also throw in Drayden and Marlon from Unova into this. Or even Cheren (for a battle he actually wins, and not randomly loses after the league, because the writers decided to crap on continuity for a stupid joke in that episode which pissed me off).
 
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