Oshawott/Mijumaru... is he a top tier battler or a joke?

[Slipstream]

With Oshawotts embarassing loss against Rogenrolla, yet his amazing victories against Palpitoad and Trip's Timburr, and looking back to his whole battlingrrecord,is he top tier?

 

[Karamazov]

I think we're supposed to take him seriously as a battler, but he usually loses when it's important to the plot.

 

[Oswin]

I think we're supposed to take him seriously as a battler, but he usually loses when it's important to the plot.

I totally agree. You can say the same for almost all of Ash's Pokemon. Especially Pikachu.

 

[Eitarou]

Maybe it depends on the writer?

 

[Sheep]

In my opinion, he's pretty powerful but just can't seem to unearth that talent and get it to its fullest potential because of that carelessness of his; he doesn't seem to think much about it lol. Aqua Jet was strong enough to knock him out both when crashing into a table and in his fight against Aloe's Miruhog, so I'm guessing he will end up as the powerhouse of the crew, hopefully at his final stage. Plus he can block electric attacks with that scalchop and deflect them with Aqua Jet (at least he did so in the rematch against Aloe), meaning he's got quite a bit of defensive tactics behind him. That's sometimes overlooked for the plot's sake, though.

In regards to his loss against Dangoro, guess people have to also remember that Pokemon doesn't really take experience and such into consideration (most of the time, anyway), so he could lose for the silliest reason. This particular loss was for the sake of the plot, too. Plus he just learned to control Aqua Jet, so maybe he couldn't change his course in time before crashing?

Well, I guess my speculations will only be clarified over time. If the power of plot isn't involved, I'd consider Mijumaru a threat.

 

[Slipstream]

In my opinion, he's pretty powerful but just can't seem to unearth that talent and get it to its fullest potential because of that carelessness of his; he doesn't seem to think much about it lol. Aqua Jet was strong enough to knock him out both when crashing into a table and in his fight against Aloe's Miruhog, so I'm guessing he will end up as the powerhouse of the crew, hopefully at his final stage. Plus he can block electric attacks with that scalchop and deflect them with Aqua Jet (at least he did so in the rematch against Aloe), meaning he's got quite a bit of defensive tactics behind him. That's sometimes overlooked for the plot's sake, though.

In regards to his loss against Dangoro, guess people have to also remember that Pokemon doesn't really take experience and such into consideration (most of the time, anyway), so he could lose for the silliest reason. This particular loss was for the sake of the plot, too. Plus he just learned to control Aqua Jet, so maybe he couldn't change his course in time before crashing?

Well, I guess my speculations will only be clarified over time. If the power of plot isn't involved, I'd consider Mijumaru a threat.

I say that anyone who can neutralize or deflect a solarbeam should be considered a threat. Not to mention, the razor shell ohko against Timburr. (With that cocksure look on his face too).

 

[~Sir Haruko~]

In my opinion, he's pretty powerful but just can't seem to unearth that talent and get it to its fullest potential because of that carelessness of his; he doesn't seem to think much about it lol. Aqua Jet was strong enough to knock him out both when crashing into a table and in his fight against Aloe's Miruhog, so I'm guessing he will end up as the powerhouse of the crew, hopefully at his final stage. Plus he can block electric attacks with that scalchop and deflect them with Aqua Jet (at least he did so in the rematch against Aloe), meaning he's got quite a bit of defensive tactics behind him. That's sometimes overlooked for the plot's sake, though.

In regards to his loss against Dangoro, guess people have to also remember that Pokemon doesn't really take experience and such into consideration (most of the time, anyway), so he could lose for the silliest reason. This particular loss was for the sake of the plot, too. Plus he just learned to control Aqua Jet, so maybe he couldn't change his course in time before crashing?

Well, I guess my speculations will only be clarified over time. If the power of plot isn't involved, I'd consider Mijumaru a threat.

This.

Maybe this is for character development reasons, I could see him slowly growing up and becoming more confident and becoming one of Ash's top Pokemon. He's the comic relief for now though so I don't see that happening for a while.

 

[AshK]

Maybe this is for character development reasons, I could see him slowly growing up and becoming more confident and becoming one of Ash's top Pokemon. He's the comic relief for now though so I don't see that happening for a while.

I agree with this. But I think he will only continue being the comic relief until he evolves (hope he evolves).

Oshawatt's shell is the most useful thing I've seen any pokemon hold and imagine how much of a force he will be as he gets more experienced and evolves. I see Oshowatt as the "featured" starter and the strongest starter for this generation, in the same way as Charmander, chikorita, treeko, and chimchar were in previous ones (from my perspective). He is as cute as a button especially after seeing the episode where he masters aqua jet but chimchar was really cute too and become one of ash's best pokemon ever imo. Time for the water pokemon to hit the spotlight finally. Only time will tell though .

 

[Slipstream]

I agree with this. But I think he will only continue being the comic relief until he evolves (hope he evolves).

Oshawatt's shell is the most useful thing I've seen any pokemon hold and imagine how much of a force he will be as he gets more experienced and evolves. I see Oshowatt as the "featured" starter and the strongest starter for this generation, in the same way as Charmander, chikorita, treeko, and chimchar were in previous ones (from my perspective). He is as cute as a button especially after seeing the episode where he masters aqua jet but chimchar was really cute too and become one of ash's best pokemon ever imo. Time for the water pokemon to hit the spotlight finally. Only time will tell though .

I have to say, he might not have battle SKILL, but he does have battle POWER. From what I've seen recently, Pokemon who are good in battles have at least one of these. Skill or Power. I'd have to say that Pikachu and Snivy have both Skill and Power. Tepig has Skill I suppose, but severely lacks power. (He won against Yorterry And Pansear in the gym battles, but tied with Trip's Vannilite.) Oshawott is one of those rare Pokemon who is nigh incompetent in a battle, but has overwhelming power to back it up. I say that, because with a lot of his battles he acts like a clown taking a lot of damage. However, with a lot of his battles, especially his most recent wins, he's won them with a single attack. Trip's Timburr looked to be able to trip up Oshawott and then block his strength. Yet, that Dynamic Punch failed Miserably against Oshawott's Razor Shell which knocked out Timburr with a single hit. And this is after Oshawott looked like a fool with his eyes closed doing two failed Aqua Jets. Aqua Jet isn't even that powerful, yet with this Pokemon LITERALLY flying blind, it has been able to take out it's enemies with a single blow. Palpitoad knew Hydro Pump, and completely overpowered Oshawott's water gun and generally got a lot of hits in. When Oshawott finally used AquaJet and opened it's eyes to aim where it was going, it took out that powerful Palpitoad in one strike.

And don't get me started on the Shell.

Either way, it's rather incompetent in battle, but it's powerful. It's like, if Piplup had the power to back up it's rather lacking skill in battles. In fact I'd say it's quite possible that Oshawott could take on Snivy and win, and Snivy is no pushover at all (beating Trip's Servine the first time).

 

[Litten]

I think he's somewhere in the middle. It's been shown that he's more than capable of holding his own against certain opponents, but there seems to be this gag where Oshawott is made a fool of outside of real battles. It's a shame, considering how entertaining Oshawott really is.

 

[Ashfangirl22]

I think they are trying to slowly build him up to be one of Ash's most powerful Pokemon.

 

[Dr. Buni]

I guess he will be the powerhouse of Ash's Unova team, like Sceptile and Charizard were in Hoenn and Kanto.

 

[Ampharos King]

Let us evaluate Oshawott's battling record against major opponents thus far in the series:

Spoiler

- Cilan's Pansage: Oshawott had a difficult time fighting the opponent at first because Pansage managed to not only dodge the pokemon's attacks, but also used a counterattack that separated Oshawott from its Scalchop. Ash used an unconventional attack method in order for Oshawott to be reunited with the Scalchop. Pansage proceeded with firing its most powerful attack, which was deflected by Oshawott's Solarbeam. Using that as an opening, Oshawott defeated Pansage with a combination of Water Gun and Razor Shell.
- Wild Snivy: Oshawott was under the influence of Attract. Snivy then ran away. The result was a draw on both sides.
- Wild Darumaka (x2): Oshawott fainted in this battle.
- Trip's Tranquill: Tranquill effortlessly dodged Oshawott's projectile attacks. The pokemon lost to a combination of Tranquill's Work Up, Aerial Ace, and its Super Luck ability (which increases the critical hit ratio of its attacking moves).
- Wild Minccino: Oshawott managed to land a few blows against the Minccino, but its opponent ran away before the battle could officially conclude. The result was a draw.
- Lenora's Watchog: Watchog used Mean Look so Oshawott could not escape the battle. Oshawott attacked Watchog head-on, and Watchog counterattacked with Low Kick. Watchog attempted to use a Thunderbolt, which was deflected by Oshawott's Scalchop. Watchog effortlessly separated Oshawott from his Scalchop. Oshawott lost the battle when its opponent launched a second Thunderbolt.
- Lenora's Watchog (rematch): The premise was the same as the last battle except Oshawott relied more on its speed to anticipate Watchog's Low Kick and Thunderbolt attacks. Oshawott tried to use Aqua Jet, but since his eyes were closed, he was unable to land any hits on his opponent. Watchog attempted to confuse Oshawott with Confuse Ray, and then prepared a Thunderbolt. Oshawott somehow deflected the Thunderbolt with his Scalchop well after it was confused. Oshawott used a second Aqua Jet while it was confused, while Watchog countered with a Thunderbolt. Oshawott somehow ricocheted off the ceiling and landed on Watchog. It was a draw.
- Wild Simisear: Oshawott tried its best to defend Emolga and Axew from the Simisear, but it could not land any hits on a much larger opponent than itself. Snivy appeared to save Oshawott and the other pokemon, and took over the battle.
- Kenyan's Blitzle: Blitzle used Double Kick to separate Oshawott from its Scalchop. Under those circumstances, Oshawott was too focused on retrieving his Scalchop that the battle had to end arbitrarily.
- Kenyan's Blitzle (rematch): Oshawott used a giant rock scalchop in this battle. Oshawott originally succeeded in deflecting Blitzle's electric-type attacks (while it was being powered by a giant battery). Blitzle eventually broke the rock in numerous small fragments due to its Double Kick. Oshawott realized that it became much faster after it trained with a giant mass attached to its back, giving it enough agility to dodge Blitzle's first doses of Flame Charge. Blitzle eventually became fast enough to overtake Oshawott, and the pokemon was soon cornered. Oshawott relied on its Aqua Jet yet again, and it could not control the move. Blitzle followed the pokemon with Flame Charge. The two pokemon's moves clashed, and at this point, both pokemon were exhausted. Blitzle fainted before Oshawott did. Oshawott won this battle.
- Trip's Timburr: Oshawott again expressed difficulty in controlling his Aqua Jet. The battle stopped temporarily since Trip was able to record Oshawott's movements while under the influence of Aqua Jet. Oshawott and Timburr resumed the battle. Timburr had an advantage since it managed to deflect Oshawott's Water Gun with its giant plank. Oshawott and Timburr used their strongest attacks, Shell Blade and Dynamicpunch, respectively. Oshawott somehow won this battle.
- Multiple wild Tympole: Oshawott had his eyes closed due to his fear of water during the majority of the battle. Oshawott was unable to land any hits on these fast and numerous opponents. The Tympoles launched their Supersonic attacks against Oshawott, which the pokemon happened to dodge even while its eyes were closed. Ash encouraged Oshawott to open its eyes, and after that, the pokemon effortlessly defeated the Tympoles.
- Wild Palpitoad: Oshawott was on land during this battle. Oshawott's physical-type moves were countered by the Palpitoad's projectile attacks such as Mud Shot and Supersonic. Oshawott launched a Water Gun, and Palpitoad countered the move with a stronger variation (Hydro Pump). Oshawott took some damage. Ash resorted to the pokemon using Aqua Jet. Oshawott, again, expressed difficulty controlling the attack due to his fear of opening his eyes underwater. Ash coached the pokemon to open his eyes. Once Oshawott built up enough courage to follow his trainer's orders, the pokemon was able to easily anticipate and dodge Palpitoad's unconventional movements. Oshawott collided into Palpitoad, resulting in Palpitoad fainting.
- Wild Roggenrola: The battle took place in the area near Cilan's table. Roggenrola jumped on to the table and used Cilan's dishware to reflect Oshawott's Water Gun. Oshawott then launched an Aqua Jet. Roggenrola dodged the move yet again, and even though Oshawott had control over Aqua Jet now, the pokemon fainted when it collided into the table. Oshawott lost.

Analysis:

Spoiler

The majority of Oshawott's battles in this series were all draws. In many of these cases, Oshawott failed to land any hits on a wild pokemon, but that wild pokemon was not able to inflict any serious blows on Oshawott, either.

Counting these official battles, Oshawott fainted four times and caused an opposing pokemon to faint five times. Oshawott failed to defeat numerous wild pokemon on his own, such as a wild Snivy, a wild Minccino, or two wild Darumaka. Oshawott's battling prowess, like the majority of his Unova pokemon, can be subjective since his power seems to differentiate between episodes.

It is not to say that Oshawott has not improved since Ash obtained it. Oshawott managed to control Aqua Jet, increase his agility on two separate occassions, and learned to fight underwater (while discarding his phobia at the same time). Ash's coaching helped to meet the pokemon's true potential. Oshawott is not at the top tier just yet. None of Ash's Unova pokemon right now are at that milestone, but again, this is still the beginning of the series. Things will happen and Ash's team will become stronger over time.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

. None of Ash's Unova pokemon right now are at that milestone, but again, this is still the beginning of the series. Things will happen and Ash's team will become stronger over time.

I've been hearing this kind of argument for quite a while now and to be honest, it's geeting less and less convincing as time goes by. I'm not so sure if we can still legitimately speak of the "beginng" of the series, even more so when it comes to the Japanese episodes. Having earned three badges already, Ash is definitely no longer at the beginng but rather right in the middle of his journey.
Given this fact I guess it's about time that Oshawott gets a little bit more mature! I'd like to remind you of what Burgundy said in this week's US episode. When commenting on Oshawott's "childish behavior", she more or less hit the nail on the head, regardless of Oshawott's undoubtedly remarkable power..
So, what I want to say is: Pull yourself together Oshawott, and fast! Given that Chimchar, for instance, has always been a fierce battler right from the start without ever showing the same immature behavior, I want Chimchar to serve a a model for all of Ash's new Pokemon.

 

[Ampharos King]

I've been hearing this kind of argument for quite a while now and to be honest, it's geeting less and less convincing as time goes by. I'm not so sure if we can still legitimately speak of the "beginng" of the series, even more so when it comes to the Japanese episodes. Having earned three badges already, Ash is definitely no longer at the beginng but rather right in the middle of his journey.

That might be true, but 40 episodes in the middle of a series that could very well last 3-4 years is not certainly the "middle" of the journey, either. I am simply using this point as a reference because the majority of the group's pokemon in the past remain unevolved and retain their basic movesets at around the 40th episode of the previous series. For example, by the 40th episode in AG, Ash's Treecko would have just learned his first Grass-type attack. (Ash had 3 badges at around this time too). What we are seeing right now are first impressions from everybody. It will take some time before Oshawott and the rest of Ash's pokemon reach their peak development.

We don't know what will happen with any of Ash's pokemon as he progresses through this region. All I want to say is that several of Ash's pokemon in the past did improve over time. Some of them evolve, but I wish not to speak of this further. In terms of overall battling prowess, none of Ash's Unova pokemon are amazing as of yet. At the same time, however, none of them are jokes either. Oshawott seems to be the main focus of this thread since he battled the most out of any of the pokemon Ash acquired thus far in Unova. It was certainly the case with Treecko in AG and Turtwig in DP, and we all know how much they have changed as their respective series progressed to the end. Oshawott and the rest of Ash's pokemon could very well become top tier battlers, but each of those pokemon's battling records are inconsistent. As I mentioned before, Oshawott has had almost as many losses as he had wins, and the majority of his battles were unresolved.

Again, we don't know what will happen as this series progresses.

 

[Andre27]

Oshawott is not a powerhouse yet, but it has the potential to be one. Development reminds me of Treeko.

One remark about the battle against the rock type (can't remember the new names): Oshawott just had a few shows in which it had much attention. That particular episode was more about the development of pokebu with a first loss and later victory against a rock type.

The capture of the rock was simply a bonus there.

 

[Queen Cynthia]

Oshawott and the rest of Ash's pokemon could very well become top tier battlers, but each of those pokemon's battling records are inconsistent. As I mentioned before, Oshawott has had almost as many losses as he had wins, and the majority of his battles were unresolved.

I wouldn't be so sure when it comes to Osahwott, mainly because of his final evolutionary form Samurott.

This is only my personal theory but I'm convinced that there's some truth in it: If you look at all the previous sagas of Pokemon, you'll realize that it was almost exclusively the biped Pokemon in Ash's team which were successful in the long term. (Squirtle, Charizard, Sceptile, Infernape, Buizel, Gible, just to name the most favorite ones) Except for Bulbasaur and Bayleff, I dare say that all of Ash's quadruped Pokemon have always been destined to disapear from the scene sooner or later, case in point: Torkoal and Torterra.
Thus, I'm tempted to say that biped Pokemon definitely have the advantage over their quadruped friends and given the fact that Samurott happens to have four legs, I'm kind of pessimistic about his future.

 

[Continent Turtle]

Well, I guess my speculations will only be clarified over time. If the power of plot isn't involved, I'd consider Mijumaru a threat.

Imagine what kind of threat he will be with two shell blades in his arms! (Reference to Samurott )

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

He is similar to Pikachu: his power is flukey...

 

[CrackFox]

I think he's shown himself to be a fairly good battler so far. Yes, he's cowardly sometimes, but that's just for some easy laughs. I hate to say it, but I consider Pokabu to be the weakest of the three.