Review S14 EP40: Cilan Versus Trip, Ash Versus Georgia!

[Iteru]

BW40 - Cilan Versus Trip, Ash Versus Georgia!http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/BW040

The first round of the Club Battle continues! With Ash beating Burgundy previously, both Iris and Cilan still have their first round match to go. It's then revealed that Cilan will face Trip, who is Ash's rival. With his recently evolved Gurdurr being able to crack Dwebble's shell, is Trip's victory over Cilan assured?

(To discuss the episode in a spoiler-free environment, head on over to The Spoiler-Free Zone's discussion.)

 

[Eitarou]

Is it just me, or was certain parts of the episode cut off?

The opening cut of just before "Pokemon" was finished.

And Georgia's line just before the commercial seemed unfinished...

 

[Jukain]

I see that Trip's only threat is that he focuses on power, but unlike Paul, he's not as clever as he looks. Oh my, Bianca is too dense to realize she's asked the same person twice. Oy, this whole name mistake thing is really annoying. "'Pawniard's a girl!" Wow, I can't believe he actually realized Attract's effects for once.

 

[Hellwarden]

A good battle ep, though for some reason something felt a bit off when I was watching it. Cilan beating Trip was quite a upset though, remember how a lot of people thought it would come down to Ash and Trip in the finals? Georgia and Iris rivalry continues to be entertaining, while Burgundy and Cilan continues to be....something. Pawniard was pretty badass too.

 

[Shinneth]

I know the dub titles have been painfully simplified and no longer pun-tastic as they once were, but it feels like every time Trip is in an episode and plays a big role in it, the episode title becomes so painfully basic.

Seriously, first Ash and Trip's Third Battle! and now Cilan Versus Trip, Ash Versus Georgia!...?

I think Trip's naming these episodes himself. That basic motherfucker.

And yeah, you totally won't get stronger by learning anything worthwhile about watching other people battle. Nice fucking logic there, Trip. How the hell are you beating Ash again? The one time Trip actually acts like a newbie, and it just raises questions. I mean with that, combined with Trip obviously going for more than 6 Pokemon so he can rotate (he was trying to catch Palpitoad after he was established to have 6, after all) which is also Ash's problem and probably the biggest reason why his Unova team's so lackluster, yet that bears no effect on Trip's skills obtained by his secret Action Replay... seriously, what?

Then again, he's really not adding anything to this saga when he isn't battling. Just dumb Negative Nancy comments, just like Debbie Downer Iris.

Seriously, seeing Iris' attitude in these first episodes and knowing she's going to win the whole thing... it just kills this whole saga. Well, that and the stupid Bianca/Zorua and Stephan's name thing being ruthlessly run into the ground. Writers, you really do know better than this. We've seen you handle running gags right before, so what the fuck?

Honestly, I can already feel this saga kinda dragging. By the halfway point of the episode I felt like 22 minutes had already passed, until I looked at the clock and realized it was only half-over.

How can it feel like it drags when half these battles are getting rushed through, honestly? Maybe it's all the character interactions eating up the time. They're nice to have, of course, and Georgia really does become awesome here (I just wonder if she can stay that way whenever she appears next time without a bunch of characters to bounce off of, because her tiff with Iris is the most dull interaction of the bunch)... but half our rivals are getting gypped here big time. They also got this set up in reverse: all the interesting match-ups are going first, meaning it's all gonna be downhill from here.

It's really depressing seeing how much potential this little saga had (btw, even though I'm strictly keen on dub names for consistency's sake, I'm still calling this the Don Battle because it rolls off the tongue keystrokes better than the Club Battle), squandered on terrible writing. I really don't care for Don George and What's-His-Name's commentary, either. We don't need cuts to see them, dammit. They're nobodies.

So yeah, I can see how the Don Battle arc progressively gets worse with each passing episode. I'm gonna have to watch the Tag Battle again, look at the Don Battle, and feel my brain melt from all the WHAT?!?! that goes on in my mind when I see the successor to such a well-written and well-structured tournament arc is a motherfucking trainwreck.

Th-there are some good parts to this... sure... there are some things to enjoy, but...

God, I hate this series. Bianca, Burgundy, Cilan, and Georgia deserve better than this. They should've filled in for the boring rivals DP had so they'd get their due and be more awesome than BW gives them credit for.

... Really, I hate this series.

 

[Eitarou]

At least the dub is using several variations of "Stephan" instead of the same thing over and over again...

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

The fact that Trip was defeated in the first round by Cilan's Dwebble, who doesn't get much on-screen training, with a Pokemon who tied with one of Ash's when it was in its first evolutionary stage shows just how forced their rivalry really is. Dweble took more attacks, including a SUPER EFFECTIVE Stone Edge, from Gurdurr, who only took two attacks, including a NOT VERY EFFECTIVE Rock Slide. If the writers are going to portray Trip as a "normal" trainer when he doesn't compete with Ash, they should at least make his losses more realistic, so as not to make Ash look worse than he already is.

Wel, now that I got that out of my system...

At least the second major battle of the episode was a lot better.

 

[chimera]

I'm seeing a lot of Stone Edge lately...

 

[Shinneth]

Dweble took more attacks, including a SUPER EFFECTIVE Stone Edge, from Gurdurr, who only took two attacks, including a NOT VERY EFFECTIVE Rock Slide.

Oh, right. Forgot to mention the Don Battle is still keeping the proud BW tradition of "type advantages don't mean shit, ever!".

Seriously, there's no arguing it; they're doing this shit on purpose. Why?

 

[FinalArcadia]

And yeah, you totally won't get stronger by learning anything worthwhile about watching other people battle. Nice fucking logic there, Trip. How the hell are you beating Ash again? The one time Trip actually acts like a newbie, and it just raises questions. I mean with that, combined with Trip obviously going for more than 6 Pokemon so he can rotate (he was trying to catch Palpitoad after he was established to have 6, after all) which is also Ash's problem and probably the biggest reason why his Unova team's so lackluster, yet that bears no effect on Trip's skills obtained by his secret Action Replay... seriously, what?

Then again, he's really not adding anything to this saga when he isn't battling. Just dumb Negative Nancy comments, just like Debbie Downer Iris.

Apparently, learning though watching others isn't basic enough for Trip. The way he left at the end of the episode just bothered me in general. First of all, I mean, Trip has nothing better to do than watch the battles. He has pretty much no legitimate motivation for any of his actions (at least not as much as Paul, anyway). And secondly, the way he walked off reminded me a little too much of Paul in "Battling a Thaw in Relations". A poorly-constructed Paul copycat is what Trip was in today's episode. Ugh, thinking about it is making me mad.

If Bianca, Burgundy, Cilan, and Georgia HAD been in DP, that would just be game-over. Instant win for DP against all past and future series. I would really like to have seen them in DP, now that you mention it...

 

[Torterra Trainer]

Did anyone laugh to themselves when they heard Zebstrika's voice? It was a little weird.....

I really liked the Gurdurr and Dwebble battle. It was cool to see Dwebble up in the air without it's shell calling down rocks from portals in the air. I've never seen Rock Slide before, is that how it always was?

I haven't seen any future episodes, but it seems to me that Bianca REALLY wants Zorua. I wonder if she'll ever get one in the future.

Pawniard is amazing, I could tell it was a girl from the moment Georgia sent it out and I heard her voice. Really Ash?! Do you have to make yourself seem so stupid? Oh, even though Zorua is cute and it's cool how she can turn into other people, wouldn't it get really annoying to be constantly made fun of and mimicked. I don't advocate humans hurting pokemon, but I'm surprised Georgia hasn't kicked that Zorua yet or at least got her Beartic to fall over on it yet.

I can't wait for next week's episode!

 

[Shinneth]

And secondly, the way he walked off reminded me a little too much of Paul in "Battling a Thaw in Relations". A poorly-constructed Paul copycat is what Trip was in today's episode. Ugh, thinking about it is making me mad.

Oh god, I forgot about that. That scene was almost JUST LIKE Paul's final scene, only without any emotion or feeling or satisfaction of a good story closing out.

Just Trip being a newbie retard until he battles Ash, where then his Action Replay kicks in and screws the rules for him.

 

[FinalArcadia]

I haven't seen any future episodes, but it seems to me that Bianca REALLY wants Zorua. I wonder if she'll ever get one in the future.

I think she's going to kidnap it. I really do. She'll leave behind a note for Luke and a Poke Ball containing her Pignite, and run away with Zorua. That's where I would go with all this "Zorua obsession" stuff.

 

[Karamazov]

Well, the episode delivers what the title promises, do doubt about that.

 

[Serperiority]

This episode was really meh-worthy. It's average.

The first battle was normal. Wasn't really entertaining as the second one. I do like how Dwebble fixed his rock so quick.

I liked the Luke and the Bianca/Zorua side stories. They were pretty entertaining, especially Bianca.

The second battle though, was what I think is the main part of the episode. Really good battle. Snivy was epic and Pawniard was just bada**.

I do agree with a guy who posted here earlier that some parts were kinda cut. Like the Georgia part before the commercial break.

 

[Heartilly]

"And yeah, you totally won't get stronger by learning anything worthwhile about watching other people battle. Nice fucking logic there, Trip. "

Well, how would he get any stronger by just WATCHING battles? I think it's a smart logic. Training is the only way to get stronger in my opinion.

 

[Shinneth]

Uhh... no. Just, no.

Training is not the only way to become stronger. The series itself shows a variety of ways of becoming a better trainer. Many times.

Observation of other trainers, studying their techniques and how they train their Pokemon, studying via reading, exercise, and various other methods also serve the same purpose. There are many examples of this being shown in past series. Ash even learned some valuable lessons from Bertha of the Sinnoh E4 before they battled.

If you draw your inspiration from only one source, you're limiting yourself and your capabilities. By opening yourself to other methods that can only be learned by observing others, you become a more well-rounded trainer.

Trip is a newbie. He should be taking every opportunity to learn as much as he can, especially since he was booted out the Don Battle so early on. He's only stunting his own growth by snubbing the rest of the world.

Shit logic. Trip has it.

 

[Bouffalant Herdier]

Not a good episode at all.

The battles weren't anything special and it's difficult to get into them when I'm not seeing everything. Have they not learnt a thing from their mistake with May and Solidad's showdown? But even so, thank Arceus Cilan defeated Trip. Finally, an onscreen loss for Mr. Gary Stu! As I thought though, it didn't seem to bother him much. Man, he's so boring, even seeing him lose isn't satisfying. I only hope this is the beginning of a long losing streak for him and he gradually gets more and more angry each time he appears. That would at least make him entertaining in SOME way.

Did I miss an episode? Why is Emolga obeying Iris now? Dammit, about the only thing making Iris the tiniest bit bearable earlier in the series was, despite all her annoying superhuman powers and personality flaws, she couldn't battle for toffee and even had a record TWO Pokemon disobeying her. Now she's a competent battler without any explanation, thus perfect in every way? Sigh, I actually didn't mind Emolga before this, but if she's suddenly lost her bitchiness just to make Iris win, I can't help hating her, too. I'm going to pretend the only reason Emolga obeyed was seeing the large crowd of people, and she wanted to show off to them.

I got a great feeling of Déjà vu watching this episode. When are they going to realize "Running Gag" doesn't have "Into The Ground" in the middle of it? Bianca chasing after Zorua, people mispronouncing Stephan's name and of course, Iris' crappy attitude; saw it all in the previous episode. The only funny part was Burgundy and her rage at Cilan, the rest was somewhat depressing. I'm beginning to see why others disliked this arc so much. Better buckle up for Round 3...

 

[Trainer Gabriel]

I've never seen Rock Slide before, is that how it always was?

Eh, kinda. The only other time I remember that move being used was by a wild Magcargo (one larger than normal) that bashed against a rocky hill to loose some boulders from the top, IIRC.

I guess this is more of a new version of Rock Slide- although it seems a little too similar to Rock Tomb.

Trip is a newbie. He should be taking every opportunity to learn as much as he can, especially since he was booted out the Don Battle so early on. He's only stunting his own growth by snubbing the rest of the world.

And yet, unfortunately, he's going to be as overpowered as ever when he battles Ash despite what he does and doesn't deem necessary to improve. I can only hope that maybe he'll learn from this later to finally give him some much needed development.

 

[Paperhorse]

Maybe not the best episode but I was pleased to see our main characters interact nicely with recurring characters. I especially loved seeing Burgundy get all angry over Cilan winning against Trip. It was so funny and made the episode worth watching. I also enjoyed the antics of Bianca looking for Zorua, and how Stephan and Ash were stuffing their faces with food. Glad to see the characters having some fun!