CN Talkback: Pokémon Diamond and Pearl [December] (Spoilers)

[Lazerboy5000]

http://fridays.toonzone.net/talkbacks/premiere.gifhttp://library.toonzone.net/talkbacks/pokemondp.jpg
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
December, 2007

Ash and Brock, along with the young Pokémon Coordinator Dawn, traverse the land of Sinnoh, meeting all new Pokémon and some hardcore rivals!

Time:9:30am Saturdays
(All times in Eastern)
4
Last Month:
We met the first member of the Sinnoh’s elite four: Lucian.
We got our first look at Dialga and Palkia.
Ash won his second badge.
Brock’s egg hatched into a Happiny.
4
This Time:

December 1st, 2007
Steamboat Willies!
Pikachu must save the rest of the party from Ream Rocket.

December 8th, 2007
Top-Down Training!
Paul tries his luck against Sinnoh champ Cynthia.

December 15th, 2007
A Stand-Up Sit-Down
Dawn practices double battling for her next contest.

December 22nd, 2007
The Electrike Company
Ash and friends help a trainer and their Electrike.

December 29th, 2007
Malice in Wonderland!
The gang gets traped in their dreams by a Mismagius.
4
Notes:
Duke has been a little busy this week, so I have made the talkback for this month.
Spark Notes courtesy of serebii.net and wikipeida.org. (That’s why the episode descriptions are quite watered down)

[CyberCubed]

I was wondering what was going on with the talkback threads for this show, they seemed to disappear.

The last couple of eps have been enjoyable especially the Gardenia Gym battle, and this week looks good too.

You might want to use the english names instead of the Japanese ones though. Hikari = Dawn and Nozomi = Zoey. :sweat:

[zoombie]

I can't wait, we finally get to meet Cynthia, I hope Paul loses. It is about he lost, he always win. It gets annying after a while, he is like Azula.

I agree the Gardenaia Gym Battles was a great battle, all of the battle episodes are fun for me, no conisdence ever Gym Battle episode, Team Rocket loses the gang's trail. These Gym Battle episodes, Team Rocket should just not be in it, or in the beginning do a 4th wall jokes (I love when they break 4th wall), when they read the tv guide and says "A Gym Battle episode, we got this episode off."

[D Dubbs]

Finally...a new Pokemon thread! Thanks for making it Lazerboy.

So far I find that Diamond and Pearl has pretty good quality, but one downside of the series is that it's moving so slow. 37 episodes for two badges...yeah... I think that's a record for the Pokemon series. And then there's the whole Team Galaxy deal. I mean, it took 36 episodes before they first appeared (and then we only saw them for 10 seconds).

But still, as I said earlier, there's been good traits as well, like the description of how the Elite 4 system is set up. It's about time we got that info. It only took 10 years.

[Dogasu]

This thread is, of course, assuming that Cartoon Network will continue premiering new episodes for the entire month of December.

We've got between fourteen and nineteen episodes left in the season, so we're gonna have to get into reruns at some point.

[D Dubbs]

We know there'll be new episodes on the 1st and the 8th. But I wouldn't be surprised if Pokemon got preempted for some holiday marathons in the later weeks of the month.

[sdp]

Maybe Duke renounced Pokemon ;)

I've actually watched most of the episodes and wanted to bump the old DP thread but I guess I never did, all I can remember now is how I hated Gardenia's voice and her attitude. I guess I would have preferred the generic "gym" leader personality in her that many gym leaders have.

[Dogasu]

Blame her English voice actress. In the Japanese version, she's an absolute screwball with a voice to match.

The English VA, by contrast, just has no energy in her voice when she reads her character's lines.

[CyberCubed]

. 37 episodes for two badges...yeah... I think that's a record for the Pokemon series. And then there's the whole Team Galaxy deal. I mean, it took 36 episodes before they first appeared (and then we only saw them for 10 seconds).

Man, you ain't seen nothing yet in terms of the gap. Japan is about 24 episodes ahead of us and Ash STILL isn't at the 3rd Gym.

I think 24+ episodes between Gyms is pretty much the longest gap in the history of the anime. This saga is gearing up to be longer than even Johto at this rate, but at least the episodes are better so there isn't as much complaining.

[D Dubbs]

:eek:

Man, this is going to be one very long saga...

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Man, you ain't seen nothing yet in terms of the gap. Japan is about 24 episodes ahead of us and Ash STILL isn't at the 3rd Gym.

I think 24+ episodes between Gyms is pretty much the longest gap in the history of the anime. This saga is gearing up to be longer than even Johto at this rate, but at least the episodes are better so there isn't as much complaining.

If those episodes dealt with a Team Galaxy plot then I would not mind very much although look at it this way, it might mean less filler near the end of the series (assuming D&P lasts for 156 episodes).

[D Dubbs]

If those episodes dealt with a Team Galaxy plot then I would not mind very much although look at it this way, it might mean less filler near the end of the series (assuming D&P lasts for 156 episodes).

The Pokemon series isn't (and never has been) set for a particular amount of episodes per saga. Take a look:

Kanto - 82 episodes
Orange Islands - 36 episodes
Johto - 163 episodes
Hoenn - 132 episodes
Battle Frontier - 64 episodes

At this rate, D&P will be the longest saga...by far. I assume they're dragging it out so they don't have to deal with another filler arc (like Orange Islands or Battle Frontier) before the next set of games come up.

[CyberCubed]

At this rate, D&P will be the longest saga...by far. I assume they're dragging it out so they don't have to deal with another filler arc (like Orange Islands or Battle Frontier) before the next set of games come up.

That's what I thought too. Something tells me the writers were really pissed off with the way they had to rush Battle Frontier and get everything done before D/P came out.

They had to do 7 Frontier Brain Battles for Ash, (including rematches against Anabel and Brandon), 7 Contests for May, (she lost 1 plus the extra Ash/May one during the final), in addition to a three-part Grand Festival, and it was a general wrap-up to all the characters during Hoenn in general.

And they had to do all that in just 64 eps, shorter than even the original Kanto but with an extra character quest on top of Ash's Gyms, May's Contests.

They were really rushed, you can see looking back at it how they probably were stressed for time. Maybe they intend Sinnoh to late for the entire generation this time.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

The Pokemon series isn't (and never has been) set for a particular amount of episodes per saga. Take a look:

Kanto - 82 episodes
Orange Islands - 36 episodes
Johto - 163 episodes
Hoenn - 132 episodes
Battle Frontier - 64 episodes

At this rate, D&P will be the longest saga...by far. I assume they're dragging it out so they don't have to deal with another filler arc (like Orange Islands or Battle Frontier) before the next set of games come up.

As I remembered it the series was normally ordered in sets of fifty-two so that is what my analysis was based on although we cannot be sure as to how CN will order the series, I suppose they will just take whatever PUSA gives to them.

Oh, and whatever happened to that series based on Mystery Dungeon?

[Jacob T. Paschal]

That's what I thought too. Something tells me the writers were really pissed off with the way they had to rush Battle Frontier and get everything done before D/P came out.

They had to do 7 Frontier Brain Battles for Ash, (including rematches against Anabel and Brandon), 7 Contests for May, (she lost 1 plus the extra Ash/May one during the final), in addition to a three-part Grand Festival, and it was a general wrap-up to all the characters during Hoenn in general.

And they had to do all that in just 64 eps, shorter than even the original Kanto but with an extra character quest on top of Ash's Gyms, May's Contests.

They were really rushed, you can see looking back at it how they probably were stressed for time. Maybe they intend Sinnoh to late for the entire generation this time.

Ah, but the series was still better then what had come before it. I would go so far as to say that less is more when it comes to Pokémon considering all that was accomplished during the sixty-four episodes of Battle Frontier.

[D Dubbs]

As I remembered it the series was normally ordered in sets of fifty-two so that is what my analysis was based on although we cannot be sure as to how CN will order the series, I suppose they will just take whatever PUSA gives to them.

PUSA distributes the episodes in 52 episode seasons, but that doesn't mean that Japan has to produce the sagas in 52 episode sets.

Oh, and whatever happened to that series based on Mystery Dungeon?IIRC, there was never a series announced. Just another special.

_____________________________________________

OK, this doesn't really have anything to do with D&P, but I just watched some of Johto on Jetstream and here's what they give for the episode description of "The Grass Route":

"Ash and company chance upon the Grass Pokémon Tournament, an annual affair where trainers pit their herbaceous Pokémon against each other in the spirit of friendly combative horticulture."

That has to be the most sophisticated Pokemon episode description ever. >.>

[PC!]

Man, you ain't seen nothing yet in terms of the gap. Japan is about 24 episodes ahead of us and Ash STILL isn't at the 3rd Gym.

I think 24+ episodes between Gyms is pretty much the longest gap in the history of the anime. This saga is gearing up to be longer than even Johto at this rate, but at least the episodes are better so there isn't as much complaining.

Wasn't there also a massive gap between the battles against Koga and Blaine in the Indigo League? *checks DVD* Mmm, about 25 episodes.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Wasn't there also a massive gap between the battles against Koga and Blaine in the Indigo League? *checks DVD* Mmm, about 25 episodes.

Goodness, do not remind me of that dark time. *Shudders*


Seems I was wrong, oh well no big deal.

[Lazerboy5000]

You might want to use the english names instead of the Japanese ones though. Hikari = Dawn and Nozomi = Zoey. :sweat:
I used the same theory as Duke did in previous threads: Since I’m using the Japanese title, I’m going to keep the names in Japanese. When the English title comes out, I’ll edit it.
At this rate, D&P will be the longest saga...by far. I assume they're dragging it out so they don't have to deal with another filler arc (like Orange Islands or Battle Frontier) before the next set of games come up.
I agree with that. We’ve only gotten to 2 gyms thus far in, what, 30 episodes or so. So to at least get through the eight gym would take about 120 episode, not including the elite four afterwards.

[Hyper Shadow X]

Been wondering where these has ben for a long while now.

[NewcomerDC]

When will the madness of Fillers end?

[CyberCubed]

When will the madness of Fillers end?

Um, the Gym battle was only 2 episodes ago. We've only had 1 filler so far since then, but as I said, Ash isn't even at the 3rd Gym in Japan yet and at the moment they're roughly 23 episodes ahead of us so it will be a good long while.

This was a nice fun episode with just the Pokemon, the D/P cast have quite a great number of personalities. Dawn and Brock's Pokemon have the best personalities this gen, with Ash's oddly bringing up the rear, which is strange because usually he has the most memorable team each saga.

Nice fun moments in this ep.

[Light Lucario]

Finally...a new Pokemon thread! Thanks for making it Lazerboy.

So far I find that Diamond and Pearl has pretty good quality, but one downside of the series is that it's moving so slow. 37 episodes for two badges...yeah... I think that's a record for the Pokemon series. And then there's the whole Team Galaxy deal. I mean, it took 36 episodes before they first appeared (and then we only saw them for 10 seconds).

But still, as I said earlier, there's been good traits as well, like the description of how the Elite 4 system is set up. It's about time we got that info. It only took 10 years.

I usually don't mind how long it takes for Ash to get a badge, especially since we've had really good episodes inbetween. As for Team Galaxy, I'm not sure if anything has changed in the Japanese version, but I think that the writers are trying to introduce them in a different way than with Team Magma and Team Aqua. They were introduced pretty early in Advance and when they appeared they weren't doing much than the usual grunt work. Maybe they wanted to develop them as a threat in a different way in order to develop them more than the previous teams. But that's just what I thought of that.

Blame her English voice actress. In the Japanese version, she's an absolute screwball with a voice to match.

The English VA, by contrast, just has no energy in her voice when she reads her character's lines.

I actually like how Gardenia is so obessed with Grass Pokemon and obviously loves them. Most of the gym leaders don't have that kind of feelings with their specific type of Pokemon. I completely agree with how her English VA lacks serious energy. When Gardenia first appeared, her voice sounded fine to me, but it sounded completely different when she reappeared a few episodes ago.

Anyway, I like this morning's episode. It felt like a cute episode with all of the Pokemon playing around and having a great time. I loved it when Piplup was doing those magic tricks and Pikachu and some other Pokemon were playing with the instruments. Parachius was also adorable with wanting to fly like Staravia. I'm glad that Ash and Dawn were able to stop the ship from going over the waterfall, but I couldn't believe how Dawn first noticed how cute Bunery and Apiom looked in dresses right in the middle of danger. Overall, a cute fun episode that had a kind of feeling of a Pikachu short to it.

[Inkan1969]

for Dawn's only known panty shot (http://i10.tinypic.com/4qhp3j6.jpg) so far. :)
(http://i10.tinypic.com/4qhp3j6.jpg)

[Sketch]

LOL at Brock realizing he didn't have Crogunk with him. You do your thing Brock, you earned it.

[bigddan11]

I really like these episodes where Pikachu gets to act as the mentor to the other Poke'Mon. It was hillarious seeing how Team Rocket tried to trap the others, and Crogunk in front of the mirror certainly was comedic.

I felt sorry for Pikachu. It looked like he was going to sacrifice himself since the others were going to escape on water Poke'Mon. Luckily Ash, Dawn, and Mantie came to the rescue when they did.

I will say you don't want to stand between Brock and girls when Crogunk isn't around. I half expected Crogunk to sense Brock's obsession and decide to pursue him. It was great for a filler episode though.

[zoombie]

I thought this was a very entertaining episode. It is not a classic, it is a filler, but for a filler it was pretty good.

I especially loved seeing Brock flirt with girls without any interferences, it was weird. Team Rocket was great in this one, the episode when they try to be entertainers they are great, you can tell they love to be preformers.

[sdp]

I loved todays episode, it was the cutest Pokemon episode. I am always a fan of "pokemon get lost/have adventure" episodes but this one was able to be cuter than any before. I also loved the Pokemon playing music :D

Pokemon needs more christmas specials even if the ones they made years ago weren't that great. Too bad that it looks like the Jynx one wont be on the next Pokemon season set...
I was playing the christmas pokemon dvd yesterday at an event I staffed yesterday, people seemed to enjoy it.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a378/thepokeball/TCG/Cities/2007-2-12/100_4256.jpg

[Hyper Shadow X]

This whole eppy reminded me of those pikachu movie shhorts from the movies.

[Lazerboy5000]

Well, it was a fun filler episode.

Sudowoodo trying to be cool like Buziel, and Crogunk amusing itself with the mirror was funny.

And they were a Trombone and a Trumpet away from being a Jazz Band.

3.5/5

for Dawn's only known panty shot (http://i10.tinypic.com/4qhp3j6.jpg) so far. :)
(http://i10.tinypic.com/4qhp3j6.jpg)
Yeah, I noticed that.
LOL at Brock realizing he didn't have Crogunk with him. You do your thing Brock, you earned it.
Lol, yea that was awesome.

[CyberCubed]

Today's episode was awesome.

We get to meet the champion of the Sinnoh Elite 4; Cynthia, and she's pretty damn cool. Nice to see the strongest trainer in Sinnoh is a confident blonde. Not the blonde stereotype, is she? Although the ice cream thing was funny.

I also loved what they did with Paul in this ep. They're really making him more involved than what they used to do with Gary, and its because of this that I think Paul is an overall better character and rival to Ash than Gary was. Paul's attitude toward his Pokemon is a refreshing change of pace after all the "nice guys" we've had in this show in the past. (I'm looking at you, Richie, blah!)

Overall a high quality episode. And foreshadowing to Movie 10 about Dialga and Palkia...when is PUSA dubbing that movie, anyway?

[yoshirider13]

Ash sounded possessed when he said that line at the start of Paul's battle.

[zoombie]

Finally Paul loses, and not only that he got creamed by Cynthia. I agree Cynthia is a cool character, I want to see again.

Paul needed to lose for his own good, when you lose, you can examine you weaknesses and become a better fighter. It will benefit him the long run.

I think Dialga and Pilga that Cynthia is searching for, will also the targets of Team Galactic, so Cynthia might have to deal with them. And maybe even Hunter J., so she really has her work cut out for her, dealing with dangerous enemies.

[Light Lucario]

Today's episode was awesome. I loved seeing Cynthia personality and I would love to see her again. I also enjoyed how she thrashed Paul like that. While I like the change of pace in Paul's character, being practically the opposite of Ash's personality, and what it adds to the show, there are moments where I want to face him in battle myself out of pure rage. Especially when he treated poor Chimchar like that and wasn't even going to head over to the Pokemon Center to heal his Pokemon. Again, Cynthia had a calm, down to earth kind of attitude that was great to see in the champion of the Sinnoh Elite Four. It was cool to see how she was interested in the legendary Pokemon Diagla and Palika.

I also liked hearing how Paul has been to every region Ash has gone to, except the Orange Islands, but that saga barely gets mentioned anyway. Like I said before, it is great to see a different kind of rivial for Ash in Paul, but I just hate how he treated Chimchar for not beating a Garchomp and getting kinnapped by Team Rockett while asleep. I really would like to know more about Paul and what made him treat his Pokemon like that in a future episode. Still, this was a great episode.

[LordTerminal]

Paul needed to lose for his own good, when you lose, you can examine you weaknesses and become a better fighter. It will benefit him the long run.

Only, not really.

I agree, he had it coming to him. But I still want to see one of his own Pokemon maul him to death. Unfortunately Ursaring seems to be loyal to him so hopes for that is out of the question.

I don't like the idea of Paul having a Torterra though. He seems to be more based off of the G/S/C rival (and notice how everything he's caught so far is either 2nd Gen or 4th Gen?) so I'd think a Feraligatr would've suited him better.

[Hyper Shadow X]

I'm liking Cynthia and would like to see her to appear again down the road.

[sdp]

My opinion kept changing through out this episode, I am not sure if I enjoyed it too much. So Paul also went to the Kanto/Johto/Hoenn leagues? It sounded kind of forced that he is the equal to Ash, though I do like that he isn't just some rookie trainer that just started his first league and is giving Ash trouble so at least it makes more sense that they can be equals in battle.

The reason I didn't like the Cynthia/Paul match was because I knew no matter what it would just make each character look weak. I know Cynthia is the champion and should indeed won with only one Pokemon (or else she would have seemed weak) but her defeating Paul's team didn't do anything for Paul's character besides giving him a big defeat.


I know I'm probably over analyzing it but :yawn:

[Freedom Fighter]

Feels kinda weird since I haven't been able to watch Pokémon for more than a month due to constant oversleeping, so it was nice to jump back in with the two episodes that aired on Saturday - and seemingly didn't miss much other than Ash's 2nd gym battle, correct?

"Steamboat Willies!" (3.5 out of 5): Injecting the cuteness back into the show, and Brock gets a chance, for one day, to be Brock again. Just fun as a whole, nothing really deep - but some steamboat shenanigans to be had.

"Top-Down Training!" (3.5 out of 5): I don't get the hubbub about Cynthia in the looks department. In the skills department, though... man, practically taking Paul to the woodshed on that one. Instantly better than the occasional 'Ash meets an Elite Four member or Champion and goes toe-to-toe with, if not beat, him/her' story. That Torterra of Paul's is really strong regardless... just not as much as Cynthia's Garchomp. And him continuing to dump on Chimchar for not 'being up to his standards'... for shame. Other memorable moments: Cynthia stopping Croagunk from poking Brock; the first signs of Dialga and Palkia (is the first D/P movie on the way, PUSA?)

[Lazerboy5000]

I tryed to watch it on my tape Saturday afternoon, but I kept getting distracted, so I have yet to finish watching it. I'm probably going to do it now (if I can keep my eyes off the coumputer and the football game).

But I did hear that Turtwig (sp?) was Paul's first Pokemon.

Also liked how he has traveled all the regions (so far), but I wonder why he didn't start in his home region.

I'll promise that I'll start watching it by 8:30 tonight.

[Lightning Tiger]

if it were me i wouldve gone to johto first, as its my personal favorite region.

[CyberCubed]

Paul probably went to the regions in a different order than Ash since he didn't meet him at the leagues.

One thing I like about Cynthia is it looks like she's going to play a bigger role in the anime than past champions. Lance got 4 episodes and Steven only 1, so I like the way it looks like (hopefully) that we'll see her again.

I just really like how the show has been giving so much better spotlight to female characters. We have our first girl rival (Zoey), the champion of the Elite 4 (Cynthia), our co-star (Dawn), our cold-hearted villain (Pokehunter J), and of course Jessie.

Its really nice how the female characters have been treated better in the series post-Misty. Compared to how she got stuck in the background doing nothing but clutching Togepi, its pretty impressive that the writers avoided that mistake with future characters. Its one area of the anime where you can really see them trying to divide the gender gap more evenly and not treat them as walking pieces of background.

[yoshirider13]

Didn't they mention earlier in an episode that you have to compete in other pokemon leagues before competing for the sinnoh league?

[Lazerboy5000]

if it were me i wouldve gone to johto first, as its my personal favorite region.
Johto's my favorite as well.
Paul probably went to the regions in a different order than Ash since he didn't meet him at the leagues.
He probably did the regions in the order he mentioned. Honen, johto, Kanto, then Sinnoh. But that means that he probably was in Johto around the same time Ash was, but Ash took such a long time in the Johto region Paul probably competed before he did. Either that, or Ash was still in the Orange Islands at the time.
Didn't they mention earlier in an episode that you have to compete in other pokemon leagues before competing for the sinnoh league?
If they did, then I don't remember.


Paul got his butt kicked... wow. I wonder why he just forfited after just four. I know he was probably thinking that he didn't stand a chance after that, but why didn't he at least give Ursuring a go?

But Cynthia seemed to get to Paul in some way. She made him go to the Pokemon center twice. Paul would have never listened to Ash if he said that (if fact, he didn't). But I just it's got to be the respect factor, and since Cynthia is way better than Ash, then Paul probably had more respect for her than Ash.

3.75/5 (It was in between 3.5 and 4)

And I just remembered, I should probably put the poll up before I forget again. :sweat:

[Light Lucario]

Didn't they mention earlier in an episode that you have to compete in other pokemon leagues before competing for the sinnoh league?

I don't think that it was like that. Lucian did mention that the winner of the Sinnoh League could challenge the members of the Elite Four. I don't think that it required going to different leagues since each region has its own Elite Four members. I believe that this was mentioned during the episode where Lucian battled Dawn's Buziel with his Bronzong.

[sdp]

Anyone watching Pokemon Christmas episodes? I'll probably be watching the Pikachu's Winter Vacation this sunday.

Also now that Jakks has had the license for quite a while they have made a very good use of it, one thing they did is they finally have made toys of the main cast from the cartoon. Sadly the paintjob is not great and the price seems to be too much but it was definitely nice to see the main cast of the show as toys.


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a378/thepokeball/Memorabilia/021.jpg

[Hyper Shadow X]

We learn about the next contest that it will be a double preformance. Plus we also got to see Marina once again.

[yoshirider13]

I dunno why but Zoey's voice really annoyed me in this episode.

[Lazerboy5000]

Didn’t really expect someone like Zoey to get injured like that. And Brock kind of freaked out… and I’m still not really sure why.

Ice armor Aqua Jet, not I bad idea. I’d really like to see Dawn perfect this move.

But Dawn has to get the first stage down first before she moves on to the second.

4.5/5


Edit: and BTW, I got all the english titles for the rest of the month updated on the title post.

[Shift]

Anyone watching Pokemon Christmas episodes? I'll probably be watching the Pikachu's Winter Vacation this sunday.

Also now that Jakks has had the license for quite a while they have made a very good use of it, one thing they did is they finally have made toys of the main cast from the cartoon. Sadly the paintjob is not great and the price seems to be too much but it was definitely nice to see the main cast of the show as toys.


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a378/thepokeball/Memorabilia/021.jpg
Well, they look interesting, anyway. The thing is...
DP Spoiler:
It's a shame the Ash combo set will be instantly outdated once he trades over Aipom to Dawn in 13 eps.

[Tash]

Well, they look interesting, anyway. The thing is...
DP Spoiler:
It's a shame the Ash combo set will be instantly outdated once he trades over Aipom to Dawn in 13 eps.
Would have rather had Ash and Pikachu again? Or maybe something like Starly? (it can't be Turtwig, because you can't market the starters outside of a set. It just doesn't make sense)

[sdp]

I kind of wanted Dawn to have a Piplup but I also figured since Piplup is a starter it will end up having many figures of him while buneary probably won't.

[Yash]

(it can't be Turtwig, because you can't market the starters outside of a set. It just doesn't make sense)
They could have had it Ash/Turtwig, Dawn/Piplup, and make a Paul/Chimchar figure.

Though now it seems that if a Paul figure were to be made, it'd be paired with Elekid.

It seems I wasn't the only one who noticed how weird Zoey sounded in Saturday's episode. I don't think she's voiced by Sarah Natochenny, but she sure did sound a lot like Ash anyway.

[yoshirider13]

Couple of things I wanna say about todays episode "The electrike company"

-Wow I haven't heard that Route1 music since the kanto days with my RBY gameboy games! :O
- It was funny when only Jessie was reciting the TR motto, and that the music stopped when James an Meowth say there line
- Manactric's voice made me laugh
- Ash's voice was more stale then usual for some reason
- I heard Route music from the DP game at the end!

Also was that dub music when Pachirisu and Pikachu were aiming at the targets?

[Hyper Shadow X]

So why were James and Meowth being all nice to Ash and co in this eppy?

[zoombie]

This was another weird episode. I enjoyed this episode even though it had no major gym battles.

This episode was perfectly timed to air around Chrismas, James and Meowth actully have a consience, the bad guys act uncharacteristicly nicer always happens on Christmas. Though James always had a soft side, Meowth was very uncharacteristicly nice.

But the ending didn't surprise me, for Team Rocket it is not just about catching Pikachu, but they have to be the one to do it. I didn't expect James and Meowth to let Jessie catch Pikachu by herself. As far as James and Meowth are concerned, they have to be part of the Pikachu capture.

[Light Lucario]

So why were James and Meowth being all nice to Ash and co in this eppy?

They were touched by the teamwork between Pikachu and Electrike and they wanted to help out instead of trying to capture them like Jessie.

I thought that this episode was better than the episode from last week, which I'll get to a bit later. It was so nice to see an Electrike again and it was interesting how his breeder focuses on flying types, but was raising this Electrike. I felt bad for the Electrike when he was saying that it didn't have any potential, despite the fact of how strong it is and it just needed to learn how to control that power. Luckily, Brock was able to put his skill and knowledge as a Pokemon Breeder into use during this episode.

I did love how James and Mewoth were so kind-hearted during this episode. James often does act kindly and so does Mewoth, but no where near as often. That's why I don't label them as all-around bad guys like Ash and his friends do. Not everyone is all bad or all good, but I guess that's part of the show.

I wasn't too surprised when Electrike evolved into Manactric. At the start of the episode, I actually thought that it had that much power because it was getting ready to evolve. I still loved how James and Mewoth were helping Manactric with opening a hole in Jessie's machine like that. It didn't have anything to do with them wanting to be a part of Pikachu's capture. They just wanted to help out Manactric after being moved by its teamwork with Pikachu. I did feel sad when TR blasted off, knowing that James and Mewoth will go back to their usual Team Rockett ways next episode, but that's one thing that many fans love about them anyway. I also felt sad when Manactric had to go away. His breeder was just beginning to understand its power, but they had to part ways. At least Manactric will be helping to power up electricity.

As for last week's episode, it was interesting. I liked how Zoey's Pokemon were able to find help for her so quickly. It was interesting to learn about the Grand Fesitval rules and how they're pretty different from the Hoenn Grand Fesitval. Dawn's idea of an ice armored Aqua Jet sounds cool, but it would be really hard to pull off since Bunery's Ice Beam would completely freeze the Aqua Jet as hard as a rock. That would make it really diffitcult for Buziel to move and all. Zoey's battle with Jessie was really good and that was the right move combination that Dawn needs to find with her Pokemon. Hopefully she'll work on that for the contest. It was a pretty good episode, but I felt that the new one this week was more interesting to watch.

[zoombie]

When Team Rocket acts nice, which in its 10 year run, believe or not has happened quite a few times, you wait for the other shoe to drop, you know they will be back to their mischeves ways by the end of the episode.

Deep down Team Rocket is not really bad, but they are creatures of habit, they are so used to trying to be bad, that they can't stop doing that for too long. It is what they do. For heaven sakes, they tried to steal their own prize in "Borrowing On Bad Faith". That is how used to trying to be bad, they are.

They should do a Christmas episode, in which because of their failures of doing anything bad, Team Rocket is on Santa's nice list, they try to get on his naughty list.

It has happen so often, I wish Ash and company would have said "You being good in this episode again? Okay you know the drill."

[Tash]

They should do a Christmas episode, in which because of their failures of doing anything bad, Team Rocket is on Santa's nice list, they try to get on his naughty list.
We haven't seen Santa in ages. I don't think that the writers even remember him.

[StellaMagic]

I can't wait to see Paul's Chimchar.

Spoilers for episodes 53-4
*Chimchar will join Ash

[Dogasu]

We haven't seen Santa in ages. I don't think that the writers even remember him.

I'm sure they do, since he was in the episode that got Nintendo in trouble with that Carole Weatherford lady.

[Lazerboy5000]

I sure don't remember Santa... oh well

CN didn't cancle Pokemon this week for more Christmas blah, blah.

Seems like the Sinnoh fillers aren't as bad as they used to.

I guess the fact that James and Meowth helping out was out of the orinadary and a sigh of relief from the standard... "Oh it's Team Rocket.... blah, blah... defeat TR.... blah, blah.... blasting off again"

3.5/5

I'm actually looking forward to next week for what I've read.


And a Merry Christmas to everyone.

[Tash]

I sure don't remember Santa... oh well
I usually hate linking to SPP, but I couldn't find an image of him anywhere else.

http://serebii.net/anime/characters/santa.shtml

Holiday Hi-jynx: proof that even Japan has cookie-cutter Christmas specials sometimes.

[CyberCubed]

I usually hate linking to SPP, but I couldn't find an image of him anywhere else.

May I ask, why?

Holiday Hi-jynx: proof that even Japan has cookie-cutter Christmas specials sometimes.

I'm pretty surprised that we never had another Christmas episode though, aside from some of those Winter Vacation shorts...I remember Stantler was a reindeer for Santa's sleigh in one of them.

[Freedom Fighter]

"Well, if you're gonna bring help, it might as well be someone who loves to talk."

Gee, Zoey, tell Dawn how you really feel...

Nice to see Zoey again (actually saw her 2nd appearance for the first time just last week; this is her 3rd) and to see her new... snail? Hmmm... well, I guess she knows what she's doing.

Seeing the double battle training was a hoot, especially with Buizel's seemingly all-powerful Aqua Jet get turned into a Freeze Missile thanks to Piplup. Sounds like a dastardly powerful attack ripe for Dawn's usage in the next contest.

"A Stand-Up Sit Down!": 3.5/5.

-Will be catching last week's episode on Saturday with this week's premiere.-

[zoombie]

Wow what an episode. Even though it was a filler, it was a fun filler that was worth it.

We got to see the dreams of the characters, Brock with all of the Nurse Joys and Officer Jenny's, Ash becoming the greatest Pokemon trainer, Dawn becoming the greatest Pokemon coordinator, and the members of Team Rocket and their dreams.

The only thing that disappointed, they could have brought back so many characters to at least make a camero. I wanted to see all of Ash's rivals in attendence when Ash won, and for Misty to make an apperance. We all know that Ash and Misty like each other, only natural for Misty to be in Ash's dreams.

As for the Team Rocket side, I wish James parents and Jessiebelle made an appearance, as well as Butch and Cassidy.

[D Dubbs]

Heh, that episode was great. It was like Pokemon on crack. (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=201791)

[sdp]

Todays episode was simply amazing, its fun seeing something very interesting/different for a change even if its all a "dream".

The badge case Ash got had all the badges Ash already owned sans Sinnoh which we know he'll get so I don't see why he was so excited. I don't think I saw Orange League badges or any non-game badges, were there any?


The past two "new" episodes before todays I only "kind of" watched them since I was half asleep were good even if it was just more of the same.

[yoshirider13]

Heh, that episode was great. It was like Pokemon on crack.
Exactly what I thought lol. If a majority of the Sinnoh fillers had this type of quality I wouldn't care how many episodes there are in this series!

[sdp]

It was a "dream" episode but I wouldn't say it was on crack, we've seen trippier episodes, this one wasn't really that trippy.

[D Dubbs]

In my book, anything episode that has 20 Nurse Joys with Croagunk fingers and eyes can be considered "on crack."

[yoshirider13]

In my book, anything episode that has 20 Nurse Joys with Croagunk fingers and eyes can be considered "on crack."And the fact that we get characters we havent seen in 30+ episodes (except for Cynthia) and 2 legendary pokemon and Team Rocket being blasted off back and forth/ :D

[sdp]

ha, I guess I was getting too technical on whether it'd be a good episode while tripping or not :p

[Hyper Shadow X]

This was a weird and good eppy at the sametime.

[Tash]

Heh, that episode was great. It was like Pokemon on crack.
You should have seen that Unown filler in later Johto. This episode was tame compared to that headtrip.

[D Dubbs]

You should have seen that Unown filler in later Johto. This episode was tame compared to that headtrip.

Oh, I have seen that episode. Larvitar's mind, super Togepi, giant eggs, thorns and ice...yeah, wow, that was a really weird episode. Definitely tops this one.

[CyberCubed]

The Unown episode is definitely a classic.

About this episode, I really hope this means we'll be seeing Cynthia again as a recurring character of sorts. Even though she wasn't real, the fact that the writers actually showed her again should mean something.

This is really the first region where the writers have foreshadowed Ash challenging the Elite 4, it makes me wonder if we'll ever get to see that as Sinnoh comes to a close. Shame that we'll have to wait another 3 years though to find out, it'll be so long from now. :/

[Light Lucario]

Heh, that episode was great. It was like Pokemon on crack.

Quoted for truth and humor. That was how this episode felt like.

This was a fun episode. I did love how Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny proclaimed their love to Brock and he wanted to make sure that he wasn't dreaming by Pikachu giving him a Thunderbolt. At a certain point, you just know that it wasn't real. I definately got that feeling when Prof. Oak and Dawn's mom just came out of nowhere to tell them about these new battles for them. It was awesome to see Rayquaza take down a Groundon and it was even cooler to see Rayquaza come out of a Pokeball. I loved it when all of the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys had Croagunk fingers and eyes and Brock woke up.Team Rocket had funny dreams too, especially James finding all of these rare bottle caps and Mewoth finally finding his place with the boss.

I found it weird how Dawn's mom had a Feebas that evolved the moment she told it too. Another influence from crack. I couldn't understand why Dawn lost points for that, even though I knew by that point that it wasn't real. Still, it looked like she won pretty easily. Ash's match with Rayquaza seemed too easy, which was also probably from how it wasn't real. Once they all knew it wasn't real, then it became that much more interesting. My favorite part of the episode was when Mismagius joined with Rayquaza to form that purple Rayquaza. That was just so cool and it was fun to see Pikachu, Piplup and Croagunk grow huge in order to beat it.

In the end, they all knew that they want to earn their dreams the real way, instead of having false happiness. Even though Mismagius went overboard a bit, the way it wanted to give them what they wanted was still kind of nice to see.

The Unown episode is definitely a classic.

About this episode, I really hope this means we'll be seeing Cynthia again as a recurring character of sorts. Even though she wasn't real, the fact that the writers actually showed her again should mean something.

This is really the first region where the writers have foreshadowed Ash challenging the Elite 4, it makes me wonder if we'll ever get to see that as Sinnoh comes to a close. Shame that we'll have to wait another 3 years though to find out, it'll be so long from now. :/

The Unown episode is definitely better than this episode. In fact, I think that it's one of my favorite episodes from the Johto saga.

It would be really cool to see Ash challenging the Elite 4. We've always seen him interacting with at least one of the Elite 4 members from each region. He would have to win the Sinnoh league first and it would be incredibly cool if he was actually able to do that. I always felt a bit sad that he didn't win the Hoenn league since his battles were a lot better than what he did in the Johto leauge. Anyway, whether he challenges the Elite 4 or not probably depends on when the next video games are announced.

[Lazerboy5000]

Heh, that episode was great. It was like Pokemon on crack.
:lol:

And this episode did make me laugh quite a bit.

You kind of had the feeling that something was wrong, but you couldn't figure out what at first.


Perhaps that Dawn and Ash should call their dreams 'goals', that way it seems more realistic.
ex: my dream was to make the Olympics, but that isn't going to happen. So I set goals instead. :)

Good episode and a great way to end out the year.
4.5/5


I'll see what I can do about the January Talkback. If I don't get it up today, then I should have it up by Friday at the latest.

And Happy New Year everyone.

Edit: I got the January Talkback up, so there's no need to worry. ;) ;) ;)