Battling The Enemy Within! (454)

[Sunain]

Ash losing was unexpected.

Ash never lost and he never battled in this episode! Ash is possessed by King of Pokélantis Empire's evil spirit which comes from the stone ball sealed in the Ancient Ruins, and Brandon agrees to battle in order to save Ash.

[gamefreak5034]

I like how Ash made sceptile hide behind the ref, really showed he wasnt himself

[Brinstar]

This episode felt like a bad Simpsons ep. All the right plot points were there, but none of it came together in the end. :[

[Korobooshi Kojiro]

Is it me, or when Brandon was talking about like ancient people their was a figure that resembled Aaron?

[The Great Butler]

Is it me, or when Brandon was talking about like ancient people their was a figure that resembled Aaron?

I caught that too.....Aaron's the only one who wears a hat like that....okay, Mirage Master wore a similar hat but why in the name of a Pikachu would he have anything to do with this?

[Torkoal Stu]

This totally gave me a Yu-Gi-Oh vibe...>_>; I mean with the evil spirit and breaking free for a short time then going evil again but evil Ash was nice for a change.

WOW amazing they let a character own a legendary o_o; But rather Brandon than Noland I guess.

Hiding behind the ref? o_0

Ho-Oh, we're getting alot of series one flashbacks lately like in the Rocket Ep we got Kanto, Johto and Early Hoenn flashbacks, right?

But one thing, the Pyramid flew off? Those effects so didn't work did they? I mean the Pyramid just stuck out and looked wrong :/

[.Bambi.]

Ash never lost and he never battled in this episode! Ash is possessed by King of Pokélantis Empire's evil spirit which comes from the stone ball sealed in the Ancient Ruins, and Brandon agrees to battle in order to save Ash.

Well obviously I knew that. I said it was expected that Ash would lose the Battle. Though he may have been possessed, he was using his body and his Pokemon. I don't think Ash would have been able to take Regirock down possessed or not, so...

[HoennMaster]

I must say that even though Ash has to come back that this is better than winning in one episode. The hiding behind the ref was unexpected and I found it weird that you have a Pidgey, HootHoot, and Salamance. One just stands out in the crowd

[Pika Hikari KT]

OMGBAKURA'SBACK!

Damn, this is worth it to download just for Rica Matsumoto returning to her second most famous role. It was like an episode of YGO...but the protagonist actually LOSES! What were the odds? Hold up...

Atem lost four times in the Duel Monsters series, one of which is incredibly similar to this one(Raphael). I estimate he had around 60-90 duels, so the odds were probably 1 in 100. Then again, I stink at algebra.

Back on topic, it's neat that the Pyramid moves around from place to place...makes it more of an actual challenge, since Brandon IS the final Brain.

...Hey, waitasec...Ash just lost to two Brains in a row first time through!

[JazzJazz]

...Hey, waitasec...Ash just lost to two Brains in a row first time through!

I wouldn't count Ash's loss in this episode as "proper", simple because Ash wasn't really himself and we don't know what would've happened if he weren't possessed.

[Flamez]

Seen the episode and i dont count it as a proper loss either, it wasnt ash battling it was the evil spirit. Besides sceptile was surprise as hell too when the spirit told it to use bullet seed to knock the rocks from the ceiling on regirock. And then telling sceptile to take cover behind the ref, sceptile doesn't battle like that and ash doesnt use those strategy's so you can definetly say that sceptile was a little confused, not battling in its regular rhythm. Still though i liked the episode, evil ash was the best thing and Ho-oh apearing was a surpise but good. I believe this is the first time may,max, or brock have seen it. Nice touch though introducing ho-oh to may right before her big tournament, its shame that most likely she'll lose to drew, and im gonna go off at that time.
O yea and just to add, i actually liked the fact that sceptiles first loss was to a legendary like regirock and not some random trainers pokemon. and besides as i said ash wasnt really in control and sceptile wasn't in its rhythm. Overall good episode i'd say 9/10.

[ghost master]

Nice touch though introducing ho-oh to may right before her big tournament, its shame that most likely she'll lose to drew, and im gonna go off at that time.

true but technically it was max and brock's 1st time. I also think this was something more directed for Ash. BTW does anyone know where the Pyramid is going and what he needs to do to have a rematch? I heard rumors on BMGF that it may be flying to the Tanoby Ruins in the sevii islands.

[burrut13]

question: does anyone know if there is more than one regirock, or regice, or registeel?

[Judai Yuki]

I believe there are one of each.

[The Great Butler]

question: does anyone know if there is more than one regirock, or regice, or registeel?

I believe there are two at least of each. We know Brandon owned Regirock so let's assume he has Regice and Registeel as well. There's one of each, then the 'Rock, 'Ice and 'Steel that appeared in the Lucario movie. At least two of each species.

And I believe more strongly than ever that the Pidgey, Hoothoot and Salamence were Brandon's. My reasoning is simple: Noland owned all the Pokémon at the Battle Factory, same for Lucy at the Battle Pike. Brandon owns the Pidgey, Hoothoot and Salamence, he just allows them to live in the Pyramid outside of their Poké Balls.

[Ashy Boy]

Ash going evil... that is quite unpleasant on so many levels. It's hardly surprising that in this state Ash abused his own Pokemon.

[Geodude]

Abuse? No. He just had Sceptile battle in ways he/they normally wouldn't, using tactics that were much more underhanded than usual. And Pikachu was scared of Ash because of the spirit. Abuse is a much stronger word than what actually happened.

[Darkstorm16]

I wonder where's the battle Palaces new locations going to be?

[Geodude]

No confirmed information. *RUMORED* to be Tanoby Ruins.

Enough of that, please keep the discussion relevant to the episode.

[Yamato-san]

And I believe more strongly than ever that the Pidgey, Hoothoot and Salamence were Brandon's. My reasoning is simple: Noland owned all the Pokémon at the Battle Factory, same for Lucy at the Battle Pike. Brandon owns the Pidgey, Hoothoot and Salamence, he just allows them to live in the Pyramid outside of their Poké Balls.

Actually, I don't think those ruins were part of the pyramid. Judging from what Jindai's judge said before taking off, the Battle Pyramid seems to settle wherever there's ruins worth exploring (Jindai took off because I think the judge said there were some new ruins discovered). And to answer an earlier question, no, those ruins are not part of the pyramid. I think it should be pretty obvious, with the way the pyramid had a flat base, and those ruins were underground.

And still on the subject of the ruins, Musashi pointed out something funny at the end of the episode. There was a legend behind those ruins that supposedly concerned Houou (and Rocket Dan, as well as Satoshi, went through the ruins to find Houou). As they were blasting off, Musashi seemed to make the connection that Houou, as well as Poppo, Hoho, and Bomander (the latter three all having attacked them in the ruins), are Pokemon that start with the Japanese syllable ホ "ho" (ボ "bo" and ポ "po" is kinda the same thing, which explains Poppo and Bomander). Don't know why the ruins would have a theme of a Japanese letter, but whatever. Speaking of Musashi, earlier in the episode, she picks up a Muchul statue which she thought was adorable. Nice bit of continuity, there.

Anyway, ever since the Kekking episode was announced as taking place after this, this episode was a friggin huge relief. A loss in the battle means no rushed Brain battle against a legendary within a single episode. And hey, if Jindai's off to explore more ruins, maybe there's still hope that he'll have Regice and Registeel when Satoshi re-challenges him. Though, I gotta say it was a disappointment that Jindai treated Regirock as an average Pokemon.... I don't even think Haruka's Pokemon Zukan, nor any of the characters, made mention of the fact that it's legendary (let alone be astounded that Jindai was able to catch one). It's also worth noting that the battle was stated as being one-on-one, so any theories that the legendary Pokemon would get leeway and be treated like Akane's Miltank were wrong.

Possessed Satoshi was also a bit of a let down.... I was hoping for Matsumoto Rica to talk in her sinister Bakura voice, and maybe using "ore-sama" for first-person as a nod towards her other role. Instead, when Satoshi's possessed, he seems to take on the spirit's voice instead of the spirit communicating through Satoshi's voice. The spirit seemed to be a male seiyuu, and he used "ware" for first-person. It was still pretty cool, just not quite what I was expecting. And even though Pikachu did shock Satoshi out of it, it wasn't near as much of a cop-out as it could've been (some speculated he'd be shocked immediately.... in this case, though, Satoshi was possessed for a good while, and in the end, Satoshi had to struggle to get out his command to shock him).

Those saying Satoshi wasn't in control for this battle are a little off. He did have a little control at times (those scenes where Satoshi's floating in some abyss and sees Jukain, whom he shouts commands to. He also manages to ward off the spirit momentarily).... it makes sense, really. The spirit relies on a skilled trainer to battle for him, but still manages to use his own, underhanded tactics in the middle of it all. BTW, for those wondering, the spirit had a reason to fight in a Brain battle. Jindai agreed that if he lost, he'd surrender any Pokemon he has (notice that when Satoshi first got possessed, he tried to take Haruka's Pokemon, stating that all the Pokemon are his or something to that effect). Having a lot to gain (and lose), he was desperate to get Pikachu in there after Jukain went down, even though the battle was officially over at that point.

The battle itself was pretty sweet, too. It's not often you get to see the afforementioned underhanded tactics, like using a judge for a shield, of all things (I'm surprised he wasn't disqualified for that, but I guess they never exactly state rules on the Pokemon's boundaries. Pokemon seem to cross those white lines on the arena floor all the time). Lock-on looked pretty spiffy, as well (reminds me a little of Sui Fong's skill in Bleach, in which a mark is left on the opponent's body to make it a vulnerable target).