Glory Blaze! (519)

[Littlemyuu]

Im so glad that Chimchar join Ash's team..Paul was so mean to the poor monkey

[milenadrg]

Battle where Chimchar and Turtwig were defeatet Zangoose and Metagross was great! I really like the episode. Paul releasing poor Chimmy was sad...

[cloudk]

Pretty cool "Tiny vs Big" pokemon tag battle right there. Glad to see Chimmy wanting to join Ash.

[Shadow XD001]

It was cool when Ash told Chimchar to use Flame Thrower. Good thing Chimchar joined Ash.

[S.Suikun]

Now this arc is on fire. Literally. After this speculative build-up with Shinji and Hikozaru that began with DP003, it all comes into fruition here. It's great to see some further insight into Shinji's training methods, as well as Hikozaru's general past. The battle against Zangoose makes for the perfect tipping point, being not only a culmination of Hikozaru's fear, but is a great battle in general. Some have mentioned how violent this episode was, and I have to agree. The writers did a great job of showing the sheer brutality that Hikozaru has put up with, which is probably more than they have done with any of the gang's previous Pokemon.

Kouhei and Honoka continue to be enjoyable characters, even if they take a slight backseat here to the Shinji stuff. As with the previous episode, I liked seeing the NPC trainer designs used here (though is it me, or has Metagross become a real pushover in this series as a general rule?). Of course, the highlight is the ending, in which we see the abandonment at last, proving just how heartless Shinji is even in light of a victory. It's why I enjoy his character so much - He's the most humorless and non-caring poker face in the entire Pokemon universe. Too bad it took an entire decade to get somebody like him in the series.

A-

[vipsoccermaster]

This was a good episode, and I'm glad that Chimchar joined with Ash. Paul releasing may be sad, but he didn't really care.

[STICKTOPIA]

I'm glad Paul released it.

[Surfer_Dude]

This episode has such an awesome name. (Glory blaze)
Awesome episode. It was really cool to look back to chimchar's past

[Surfer_Dude]

Also im glad that paul released it and that ash got it. All he needs now is a piplup...

[Ash-kid]

Chimchar's story was very sad....

And Paul was so evil, he wanted to hurt Chimchar.

6/10

[STICKTOPIA]

He didn't want to hurt it he just wanted to activate blaze.

[Ciccone]

Paul wanting to witness Chimchar's Blaze again was kinda sick in a weird way. But he likes to use his Pokemon so it's not too surprising; just sort of interesting to take note of. I was glad he released Chimchar in the end though. But why did they show him with it in the first place? Why not give it to Ash from the beginning instead of waiting almost a year? I guess the writers love to make fans angry sometimes with their overcomplicated storylines. Glad Ash got it instead though. At least that was something new and exciting. 7/10.

[KGB13]

Paul is way too hard on his pokemon and Chimchar is way too timid and emotionally scarred to be with a trainer like that. I know Ash will do a better job raising it and bringing out it's full potential.

[wind21]

Okay, part 2 of the Tag Battle arc showcases Paul at his very worst. So let me see...Well, first of all, I think this episode is an example of the writers having to make an adjustment in the story so that things flow. One thing we saw last episode during Elekid's and Pikachu's interaction is that Paul cannot be a completely cruel trainer: Elekid is naughty and a bit of a bully, but it is not unhappy. So the writers have to create something to develop the tension b/w Ash and Paul, and this is where Chimchar's Blaze comes in. I don't think the writers had this in mind to begin with, b/c Blaze kicked in for Chimchar during Paul's battle against Roark, and it looked perfectly normal. Well, we just have to make an allowance here.

Blaze creates a unique training problem for Paul. Normally, Paul keeps only the strongest pokemon he catches. They are a sure thing for Paul b/c their base abilities are superior to the average pokemon of that type. On this criteria, Chimchar fails, I think; Chimchar's base abilities are nothing special. But the enticing thing for Paul is Blaze; if he can figure out how to make Blaze work, then Chimchar becomes an unbelievably powerful pokemon. But that puts Chimchar in plenty of danger as well, due to the nature of how Blaze activates. And unlike Paul's other pokemon, Chimchar does not have the security of being superior based on its normal abilities; it either masters Blaze or it is worthless. What Chimchar actually thinks about that, I'm not sure. It's certainly aware of Paul's opinion about Blaze, but it also takes the time to improve its base abilities as well. It's happy when it wins, and it enjoys Ash's compliments on how it has improved, as seen last episode. Maybe in the back of its mind, it thinks that by working hard enough, Paul will come to accept its power just based on the hard work it has put into improving, and that is why it accepts Paul's training regimen. If Paul's intent in training is to master Blaze, Chimchar's intent is to simply improve, and it is able to do that for awhile.

Things start to get out of hand, though, as Paul becomes increasingly impatient with the absence of Chimchar's Blaze during a night training session before the Tag Battle 2nd round. He pushes Chimchar harder and harder, and even cruelly tells Elekid to awaken an unable to battle Chimchar with thunder; fortunately the attack is taken by Pikachu, encased in a volt tackle (Pikachu looks amazing). Ash and Dawn take Chimchar to the Pokemon center, where Nurse Joy takes care of it and requests Paul not to use Chimchar in the battle tomorrow.

But....Paul uses Chimchar anyway, while Ash goes with Turtwig. And...Ash consents to Chimchar's use after Chimchar affirms it wants to battle. I think the situation is very interesting, and it's Ash on the dot; he trusts and respects what pokemon tell him, even if it isn't the most logical or wise decision. Paul and Ash are up against a Metagross and Zangoose, and the battle again takes on a league atmosphere, reaching a pt where Turtwig uses Bite on Zangoose to protect Chimchar. Paul, in response, orders Chimchar to use Flame Wheel on Turtwig and Zangoose, and Chimchar carries out the attack, scoring a brutal hit on Turtwig (the grass type looks even more beat up than when it took Rampardos' Head Smash) and hits on Zangoose and Metagross; this just elevates the tension of the battle to another level, but fortunately Ash keeps his cool. Once Zangoose gains the upper hand on Chimchar, Paul is ready to concede the battle, saying that this is it (Chimchar is terrified due to the whole Zangoose exp that activated Blaze for the first time way back; Paul was hoping that Zangoose would activate Blaze again due to the memory effect, but instead Chimchar's fears come out). Ash implores/orders Turtwig to help Chimchar out, and it does so, although it falls down in pain/exhaustion after knocking Zangoose off Chimchar. Zangoose unleashes a fire blast on a defenseless Turtwig, but Chimchar jumps in and holds it off, gaining a fire boost as well. Chimchar waits for Paul to give it an order, only to realize one is not coming. Paul has determined Blaze is impossible for him to use, and a powered up flamethrower is not going to get him excited; he's done with Chimchar. Well, hold on a second! Last episode, it looked like Paul was looking for powered up flamethrower, not Blaze...Let's see. I'll say the lack of effectiveness of the powered up flamethrower last episode convinced Paul that it was not going to be good enough and made him more obsessed with Blaze, leading into the events at the beginning of this episode. Okay, back to the battle, Ash is the one to give the command to Chimchar (I think this is Dawn's first "Ash knows what's he doing. Do it Ash!" cheer while everybody else is shocked that Ash is ordering Chimchar), and the flamethrower knocks out Metagross. Turtwig then defeats Zangoose.

It's a little bit funny to say that I think this is Turtwig's finest moment in battle (the whole thing) considering it wins with a Tackle.

At the end in a heartwarming scene, Paul releases Chimchar, and as it sadly heads toward the forest while Paul heads stoically the other way, Ash asks Chimchar to come with him. It's an amazing scene, as Paul stops in his tracks with a surprised look-shared by Dawn and Brock, and Ash smiling looks at Chimchar with his hand held out. This scene was a question of not if it was going to happen, but how it was going to happen, and wow, the writers made it a special moment.

[saar]

Good battle. It was full of tactic and strategy.
Those two guys were strong, I'm happy two small starters like Turtwig and Chimchar have managed to defeat them.

[Lance The Champ]

One of the best episode in diamond and pearl.... I think Paul did the right thing to release Chimchar... They could not have gotten along well in the future. Thats Paul thinking ahead

[RocketTwurpSLR]

OMG, no one has mensoined it yet...

i mustve seen this in another way, other then chimchar getting "abused" you have to look it in Pauls p.o.v

i know in the previous episode that Ash used the counter shield with pikachu
against the surf attack (...was it rhydon who done it?)

i think Paul was inspired by it and was trying the CSstratergy with chimchar
but as he was about to... as he told all his pokemon to use all the moves....

the camera angle moved to Ash, making it look like he was gonna hit chimchar with all the moves, i think the writers made us belive that he was abusing chimchar, but was actualy secretly training chimchar.

after he did that he got a little sarcastic about it.

but i have proof aswell, in familurity breeds stratergy he uses the counter shild it with his gastrodon.

[G50]

This episode was good and so sad... It was interesting to learn how Paul met Chimchar and how why he chose to keep Chimchar originally. It was a bit ironic how in the next battle, Chimchar had to deal with another Zangoose which in this battle it was so terrified. It was horrible to see how badly Paul treated Chimchar. He ends up releasing him with harsh words. It was cool to see Ash reach out to Chimchar in the end. This episode basically showed the Pokemon version of Child Abuse. It was so sad to see...

100/100

[TheEpicGoomba]

This episode was awsome. I liked the battle and I was glad Ash got Chimchar. Paul is a bit of a douche bag.10/10

[Caseydia]

This episode screamed POKEMON ABUSE.

I liked the episode though.

Pros:

-Paul makes everything just wonderful.
-The guy with the red hair and cape was hott. But bad voice actor. Sounded like my old neighbor from down the street.
-Chimchar getting focus.
-Ash showing his compassion as always.
-Nice story line.

Cons:

-Conway just loves to hear himself doesn't he?
-Watching Chimchar all stratched up and brused.
-Paul sounded more older in this episode for some reason.