PC "Journey to the Starting Line" Review thread

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FabuVinny

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Shuukan Pokemon Housoukyoku Episode 15: "Pallet Town! The Setting off of a new Pokémon Trainer!"
Pokemon Chronicles Episode 14: "Journey to the Starting Line"

abgfau.jpg

Toonami UK, 4:30pm and 7:00pm
A Tauros stampede leads to the escape of baby Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle on the same day that the mayor's son, Gilbert is due to begin his Journey. Can they be found before they get into danger, and will Gilbert get the right attitude towards being a trainer?

In Japan, this episode aired between the Pokemon Advanced Challenge episodes "Candid Camerupt" and "I feel Skitty".

Post your thoughts about the episode here. Please mark any spoilers for episodes not that have yet to air in America in spoiler tags.
 
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It was really obvious what Pokémon he would pick as soon as he was on that mountain.

But the highlight has to be this:
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Ah. I missed that. Thanks.

Was the "special circumstances" line about Ash getting Pikachu in the original? I wouldn't have thought being late would be special circumstances, but there may be more into that.

Especially since Professor Oak must have known that four trainers were going to visit him, and yet he only had three Pokémon to give away. And here, Professor Oak only has the three Pokémon that run away, which are different to the three in the "Oak's Lab" episode - that Squirtle isn't May's Squirtle! So Proffessor Oak only seems to have one of each at any time...so what do Delia and Professor Oak know that Ash doesn't?
 
Blackjack Gabbiani said:
So I'm presuming that him being the mayor's son was in the original by when you posted this.
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I'd have to watch it again to be sure, but I don't recall anything of the sort in the original.
 
We don't see the mayor, so it might just be an addition of the dubbers to stress the importance. We don't see a mayor, or anywhere he could live, an there is also this thread that seems to count against it:

http://bmgf.bulbagarden.net/showthread.php?t=8158&page=2&pp=15&highlight=mayor

The serebii guide doesn't mention him being the mayor's son, or any 'special circumstances' regarding Pikachu. Not that it is a problem, but like Professor Oak staying up to find out what Team Rocket plan to use pokérus for in Oaknapped, it isn't going to lead anywhere...
 
I loved this episode, and I thought it was great. ^_^


And by the way, what did Delia and Professor Oak mean by the "special circumstances" they mentioned?

I wonder if they could mean Ash got Pikachu only because of the fact he overslept?

Or could it possibly mean something more?


Actually, I've always thought it was very interesting how Professor Oak just "happened" to have an extra Pokemon for Ash to recieve, which was Pikachu.

Maybe that's what he meant when he said the "very special circumstances" line, or he could even mean that particular Pikachu itself was special (which is something Team Rocket also said in "Pokemon Emergency")......

Of course, Delia said something like, "Yes, of course" right after that, putting even more emphasis on whatever it was they were talking about.



Man, now I really wanna find out what they were talking about and what they meant by that. XD
 
I didn't really care for this episode. I guess it rightly portrayed the thoughts of a starting trainer who doesn't really care for pokemon and we see them start to like pokemon *cough*May*cough*
 
Well, I think he liked Pokemon, just only certain ones...... ^^o

He was a very picky trainer who either wanted to start off with a Pokemon of his choice or not start out on a journey at all. And that was a very bad attitude. I can see why Tracey acted the way he did towards him when he first met him.


Anyway, I'm glad that everyting worked out okay for him (even though I knew it would in the end, lol).
 
The special circumstances are just a nice way to say he was late and that's all he had left...nothing more nothing less.
 
Yeah, I kinda figured that's what they meant. ^^


I was just hoping they meant something more, because that would've been very interesting if there was more to the story or something. XD

*has always wondered why, on that particular day Ash started out, Professor Oak had 4 starters at his lab instead of the usual 3 starters*
 
My interpretation is a little different:

Oak had his usual three starters available. This is fine if there is only one person starting their journey (like this episode) but there were four people starting on that day so Oak wasn't properly prepared. This meant that he had to resort to the disobedient extra when Ash was the last one along. (Had he not overslept, Ash would have started with the Squirtle he wanted and Gary would have ended up with Pikachu.) While this isn't the only negative thing you can point out about Professor Oak, the "special circumstances" line makes it not as bad as it sounds like there was an actual reason behind giving Pikachu to Ash.
 
Three words for you all: Deus ex machina.

They're a favorite of Pokemon's writers, I've noticed. (See also: Mewtwo Returns)

Or, to quote Sam in The One Ring Part 2, "Plot device, Mr. Frodo. Plot device."
 
Neku said:
Three words for you all: Deus ex machina.
Click to expand...

You are talking about Bulbasaur's ability to pwn any pokemon on sight when necessary, right?
Other wise I couldn't think of any other examples of Deus Ex.

Of course, that's what made this one of my more memorable episodes for the
sole fact it features good ol' Bulba X). I'm glad the mayor's son came to his
senses by the end of the episode. Though that particular device of using a bratty,
naive kid learning his lesson has been used a bit before, it panned out well
for this episode.

And am I the only one disturbed slightly by the old woman who said something along
the lines of "all my peeps"? That wasn't all she said... but using this type of slang feels
inappropriately out of character for Pokemon.
 
Nah, I'm talking about how, although all the other Pokemon were gone when Ash visited Oak, there just conveniently happened to be a Pikachu there. And to use my second example, the one Rocket just conveniently dropping that blowtorch and setting off a bunch of chain reactions that ultimately led to TR's downfall in MR.
 
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