Following a Maiden Voyage! (469)

[Shiny qwilfish of doom]

i watched this episode when sinnoh first started,10/10.

[Torpoleon]

This episode rocked it starts a new region!Man when will Team Rocket give it a rest?

[gtab x3]

Loved this episode when it first aired, best part was hearing th music from the games, (when you go throgh route 201). it was funny that dawn got confused on where to go. i always will believe that prof. rowan is the meanist looking professor there is.

[TurtwigFan1]

Loved this episode! Piplup was so adorable and cute, I could just pick her up and hug her. Dawn was really cute too.

[#1-Icelandic-Pokemon-Fan]

What!!! Is Piplup a girl i always thought it was a boy

[Igottapoo]

This was a great start to the Diamond and Pearl series. Dawn and Piplup were so cute together. I'm glad this episode was hardly focused on Ash. And Staraptor carrying Chimchar back was funny lol.

[milenadrg]

Not an Piplup lover, but this episode was exelent. Dawn was totally new character and it was glad seeing someone new alone without Ash

[S.Suikun]

Holy cow, I can't believe it's been nearly three years since I posted in this thread. So why am I again, you ask? Well, summer is just around the corner for me, and upon impulse, I have decided that one of my summer hobbies will be rewatching episodes of Pokemon DP, since I haven't really rewatched Pokemon regularly since the Orange Islands. The reviews I will be giving will be more professional than the ones you usually get from me (i.e. no crazy side remarks about brain damage...okay, maybe just a few), and I'm gonna be giving letter grades like the AV Club. As a warning, I am difficult to please. Note that for new episodes, I'll still do whatever I please. It's just nice to have a different take on some past episodes in a retrospective.

With that...

This is a great kick-off to Diamond & Pearl. I would dare say that this certainly exceeds the beginning of AG, thanks to nearly the entire focus of the episode centering around the new lead protagonist. Dragging Satoshi's plot over the next three episodes really does establish this saga nicely, but when speaking of this episode in particular, we get a great glimpse of both Hikari's and Pochama's personalities. Back when this episode first aired, some were still getting over the Haruka similarities, but even then, you can see some differences stick out from the very start. Professor Rowan is a nice reprieve from the kookier professors of the past, and Pochama's eventual market domination was solidified from Day One thanks to its bratty quirks.

The direction that Hikari and Pochama's relationship takes from the lab escape scene draws some similarities to Satoshi and Pikachu first meeting, though this may have been a purposeful intent of the writers. I've never been a big fan of Hikari's mother as a character, but the fact that they established her background early on at least gives her some depth. Instead of Ariados, I would rather some flashy new regional jerk Pokemon be shown off given how we anticipated these new creatures so much. Granted, the development between the two would become more gradual and fleshed-out, and this is overall a nice set-up for the next episode. However, these first three episodes are clearly meant to be viewed together.

B+

[Littlemyuu]

A great episode! i remember when i first saw it...good memories from Piplup...lol 10/10

[catzisconfus]

of course the first episode is always good ^^

[catzisconfus]

of course the first episode is always good ^^

[No. 1 Machop Fan]

Take a look at page 4 of the pictures on Serebii's site. In one of them, you see under Dawn's skirt while she's riding her bike!

[Ragingmaiden]

I think dawn's a cuter girl
since I am Dawn

[Ciccone]

Not all that exciting but that's to be expected from the first episode in a saga. Dawn got almost all the screentime to herself which is a first. Ash usually gets the screentime at the start of every saga so that was a nice little change of pace I support. Dawn and Piplup got a nice debut there so that's a notable part of this episode. 7/10.

[pokezack101]

This espiode was a great way to start off the D/P saga.

[Ash-kid]

The start of D/P was great. Dawn wasn't really ready for that.

And i loved that Ash got little screentime. great.

9/10

[KGB13]

I loved this episode. Great start to a great series.

[Mr. Joker]

I am re-watching the DP Series again so expect me to review most of the DP episodes :]

I thought that the episode was a very good way to start off the DP series, I think that the writers didn't rush it like a lot of the first DP episodes. I liked Piplup in this episode, it was cute. I loved when Staraptor was flying with Chimchar in its talons, it was a cute moment. I hated when Dawn asked Aridos to stop though, it's a Pokemon that is trying to kill you and eat you, YOU DON'T ASK IT TO STOP.

9/A-

[Willow's Tara]

Mr. Joker- They always do that, Ash and co constantly tell TR to stop and act like that TR does not know what they are doing is wrong (Hello they are the bad guys, they don't care if that Pokemon belongs to someone, that's the point of stealing!).

Anyways not a bad start off with Sinnoh, I like how it was mostly centered around Dawn and she didn't met Ash until the third episode. It was funny how she walked into that building and was like "Here I am!" lol.

Rowan looked quite strict really. I felt sorry for that Turtwig, when Rowan's assissant announced that Chimchar and Piplup took off along with Starapator he gave Turtwig a glare what was that? He didn't do anything, I bet Turtwig was like "I should have gone with them".

Not a big fan of Johanna either, mostly because when Dawn lost (or won whichever) a contest of her own she was like "Don't come calling to me everytime you lost and won!" What was that? Not a very nice mother if she could care less if Dawn lost or won.

Dawn's and Piplup's relationship did start off like Ash, Dawn even imagined releasing each Pokemon like Ash had done (Only she didn't sleep in). It was nice for them to get along soon but Piplup is sure stubborn. The look on Chimchar's face when it was being carried by Staraptor was right.

Dawn was smart when she managed to trick Ariados, good episode.

[wind21]

Ever since Dawn finished the Grand Festival, I've rewatched almost all of these episodes. Maybe for future reference or a laugh, I'll put down the things that really struck me.
Okay.

This episode is Dawn's intro. When I first watched this, I was pretty entertained seeing Dawn's background and then her rescue of Piplup from the Ariados. Now, not so much, since this episode has been referred to (as in, the Ariados attacking Dawn and Piplup using bide) twice later on in the diamond and pearl series.
One of the things about Dawn that I think writers have tried to balance is her being very similar to Ash vs. her being a starting coordinator, who has doubts about her ability and feels pressure (which, if Ash does feel that way, he doesn't show it too often- maybe he expresses it differently by being more reckless). This episode focuses more on her similarity to Ash in the way she goes alone into the forest, w/o any pokemon protection, to try to recover the runaway pokemon.

With serious analysis aside, there are 2 parts I particularly enjoy about this episode:
1) Dawn lost in the town, trying to find Professor Rowan
2)Team Rocket's blastoff in their balloon. Writers have to find some way to make it happen since Ash does not have a flying type Pokemon with him, and they do an okay job.