Review S07 EP49: A Scare to Remember! ・ EP50: Pokéblock, Stock, and Berry

[Dogasu]

Japanese Episode AG 89: "Pikachu...Joining Team Rocket?"
American Episode 361: "A Scare to Remember"

Kids' WB!, 10:00am ET
No known encore airing this week
After an attack from Team Rocket, our heroes are all sent blasting off in different directions. Pikachu, who's been separated from Ash, comes down with a case of amnesia and is talked into joining Team Rocket! Can Ash refresh Pikachu's memory, or have Jessie, James, and Meowth finally achieved their goal of capturing Pikachu?

Immediately after that,

Japanese Episode AG 90: "Arrival in Lilycove City! PokéBlocks and Aerial Ace?"
American Episode 362: "Pokéblock, Stock, and Berry!"

Kids' WB!, 10:30am ET
No known encore airing this week
May and her friends finally arrive in Lilycove City! While there, they meet up with a Grumpig trainer who's competing in the Contest! As May learns about making Pokéblocks from the Grumpig trainer, Ash is approached by an old man who tells him about an attack for his Swellow called Aerial Ace. As both Ash and May work to develop their new skills, the day of the Contest draws near! Will May be ready in time?

Post your thoughts about the episodes here. Please mark any spoilers for episodes not that have yet to air in America in spoiler tags.

 

[TK n Happy Ness]

Ash already knows about Aerial Ace in the dub, and there's a line for all the Rocketshippers in the first ep.

EDIT: Just in case you're wondering, the line happens around the time when Jessie, James, and Wobbuffet land towards the tree.

 

[Misty]

The Jessibelle bit was in the second ep. James remarked that the Grumpig reminded him of his "ex-fiancee".

Anyway...

First ep - basically that one ep from the Orange Islands with an interesting twist. Handled well and quite humorous at times too ("Jessie, bases can't talk!"). 8.5/10.

Second ep - Okay. A standard introductory episode. The ending twist was quite unexpected though. I wonder how that will pan out. And no, don't post it here if you can help it, I'd like to not be spoiled if possible >.> 7.5/10.

 

[Cybersai]

First episode was a standard Pikachu/Meowth episode, not much to report. Pretty poor Ash/Pikachu sap episode, as if we don't have a ton of those already. We usually have an average filler before a contest anyway, so it's to be expected. :: yawn ::

Second episode was excellent. Once again, the coordinators happen to be some of the best characters in the show. Kelly had a very well done introduction, lots of development for May in this episode, Ash trains one of his Pokemon, and the contest begins right away.

Too bad the writers really missed the ball with Ash's story in Hoenn. It seems they focused so much more on May's story and her contests, which is why all her episodes are usually very good.

Oh well, guess going to gyms over and over again wears off after awhile. Especially since you know Ash will eventually beat every gym leader anyway, but with May you never know if she'll win a contest or not. Ash's story has gotten way too predictable.

 

[FireEmblemPride]

The first episode was one of the better fillers in awhile. It's also the best Pikachu + Meowth episode. The Pikachu plotline was very interesting, although I hated the song that played during the flashback sequence.

The second episode wasn't as good or memorable as the first, unfortunately. Pidgeotto's voice sounded odd, too. I hate introductory episodes; I'd rather have the contest now.

 

[Luna Tiger]

A Scare to Remember! - I think the only interesting part about the episode was...well...was it just me, or did James get the better end of the deal during this entire episode? Best lines, Blueshipping hints, and hey! He got to carry Pikachu on his shoulder! =333

Pokéblock, Stock, and Berry! - Again, James got the best line: "If it reminds you of my ex-fiancée, then yes." I get the reference, find it hysterical...and still have no clue why the Grumpig reminds him of Jessebelle. >.> She didn't seem like a pig.

Brock 'feeling Max's pain' was just the hottest thing. *sadist toward favored characters; excuse me* It was simply one of the better inside jokes that really wasn't...inside, I suppose. XD

The episode even made reference to how pokémon of different nature categories react to different types of pokéblock, and the berries actual tastes from the games.

And while everyone was talking about Kelly/May long before the episode aired in the US... where's the Combusken/Grumpig love? Even they had a moment.

Scare to Remember - 6/10
Block, Stock, n'Berry - 7/10

 

[Cybersai]

The second episode wasn't as good or memorable as the first, unfortunately. Pidgeotto's voice sounded odd, too. I hate introductory episodes; I'd rather have the contest now.

I'd rather the writers give May's coordinators some character, rather than rushing into a contest against some generic opponent. And besides that, the episode explained the Berry Blending from the games as well as having the subplot of Ash teaching Swellow Aerial ace.

It's the same reason the GYM episodes all have an introduction episode as well, in order to get some backstory on the Gym leader and his/her personality.

 

[spokethewind]

I've seen these a few weeks ago and loved A Scare to Remember so much I had to tape it. There were a couple of Rocketshippy lines which in my mind was just fabulous (FEAR HUGGING! WOO!) and the Meowth and Pikachu part was cute. I wonder if Meowth was nicer in the Japanese version since he has a crush on Pikachu over there.

The next episode got screwed up by my WB channel so I missed a few minutes of it but I got all the TR parts which are critical to my uhm, living. Yeah I don't get the Jessiebelle line either. I mean, I understand it's a stab at her, but I mean, the thing wasn't even red. Or had blue eyes. I looked hard, and saw NOTHING. :banghead:

James' little scared giggle in the first episode and Meowth's line of "Remember who we're talkin' about here" were the things that stuck out as the most humerous in my opinion.

 

[Argy]

So, what were the Rocketshippy lines?

 

[spokethewind]

one went like (it wasn't super Rocketshippy, but you know, some of us get excited over anything small (me))

Jessie: You know James, I've never felt this close to you before.
James: I feel the same about you...... and wobbafet (I can't spell that lol)

and then later

Jessie: What?! Are you trying to tell me that we're lost?!
James: ehhh heee ehh! Now it's anger that's hiding how much you do care!

 

[Luna Tiger]

one went like (it wasn't super Rocketshippy, but you know, some of us get excited over anything small (me))

Jessie: You know James, I've never felt this close to you before.
James: I feel the same about you...... and wobbafet (I can't spell that lol)

Don't forget they were all impacted into a tree when that happened, that Wobbufett hit the tree first, then James, then Jesse, and the lines were only spoken as they paper-floated out of their man-shaped hole.

 

[Argy]

Uh, yeah, that's not shippy given the context.

Err... I can see it being Wrongrocketshippy in a sense, though... (feels a little flustered)

 

[TK n Happy Ness]

Jessie's latest fake name (according to Lessons in Lilycove) is Jessafina. And here's the Trainer's Choice.

Which one of these Pokemon is the best choice to battle Flaaffy? Swinub, Shroomish, Misdreavus. - Swinub

 

[Luna Tiger]

Which one of these Pokemon is the best choice to battle Flaaffy? Swinub, Shroomish, Misdreavus. - Swinub

Well that makes sense. Swinub's part Ground.

Though, the one TC today... They chose Makuhita as the best choice to battle a Spoink, out of Makuhita, Swampert, and Quilfish. >.> Morons.

 

[Rocketshipper]

Pikachu Joining Team Rocket?: Meh. such a missed orpertunity that it's not even funny. This could have been the start of a longer story arc. How dramatic would it have been if Pikachu had actully stayed with Team Rocket for awhile? I think it should have stayed with them until the Groudon vs Kyrogre battle. Ash could have been all depressed for awhile, then trained himself harder to beat Team Rocket and get back Pikachu. It would have been cool to see Ash have to battle against pikachu, and then in the end he could risk his life defending Pikachu during the events of the Groudon/Kyrogre episodes and Pikachu would rejoin him, just in time for gym battle 7. But instead the writers just made the plot into a filler, one that spent most of it's time imitating a more interesting Orange Islands episode. And the "good guy becomes evil because of Amnesia" plot line is kind of cliched. The only parts I really liked in this episode were Jessie and James' lines while they were trying to find their base,the scene where they were "refreshing" Pikachu's memory, and the scene where they used Pikachu to attack the twerps. The new dub song was kind of cool, but I liked the japanese song used in the original more.
overall: 1 and 1/2 stars

Arrival in Lilycove, Pokeblocks and Areial Ace: Meh...this episode was ok for me. Maybe the last episode dragged me down, or maybe it was the Grumpig trainer's voice (wasn't that Max's voice actress?), or maybe I just wasn't in the mood today, but I think I enjoyed this episode a lot more in japanese than english. It was funnier. Team Rocket was also basicly useless for most of the episode, the scene where they tried to steal Grumpig felt tacked on. Their final scenes were good though, I liked Jessie's little "pep talk" to poor Chimecho. And I can at least appreciate the episode for what it accomplished. May and her new rival got development, the berries got showcased, and it was nice to see Ash training to learn a new move again. I can't wait to see the contest!
overall: 3 stars

 

[YumeHeart]

I wonder if Meowth was nicer in the Japanese version since he has a crush on Pikachu over there.

He does? Really? O_O Was it said in an episode or something?

 

[Dogasu]

I have no idea where spokethewind got that from.

 

[Argy]

Neither do I. Unless it came from Ketsuban's original wonky translation of "Hey! Pikachu"...

 

[Geodude]

Nice to see May dispose of Team Rocket all on her own for once. Now if we could just see Brock do that...

 

[Cybersai]

Does Brock even remember that he has Pokemon? Most of the time he just stands there and watches while Ash/May try to fight off TR. Sometimes they're actually losing, and Brock still stands there doing nothing.

Gee, little help Brock?