Camping It Up! (556)

[Genome]

Gwargh, I'm falling behind on these things.
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Following ancient Japanese tradition, Ash & Friends go to Cram school.

Ah, Mr. Pyramid King, you're not easy to get rid of.

Their backs aren't hunched over..Could they be kneeling before Rowan's presence? Or does his mightiness really stretch to the skies?

Every summer camp did hold the promise of homoerotic encounters. Could this be Ash's time?

Oh it's...a more boyish Maylene.

DP is playing matchmaker—Okay. Cue the fiddler on the roof!

Ash and Raichu sure tango a lot this saga.

A friendly game of Go Magicarp? Anyone up for high stakes? I'm betting my line of the episode here.

Kendall. The End All of names to me.

It is time to address a serious issue. The extinction of giant rocks..

7/10 I cannot woefully deny the interesting ideas this arc is trying. Or that we're trying more arcs! But prerequisites like Jessie absorbing the spotlight, while Meowth and James stick to being annoying in the back, Team division so drab, THE SECOND COMING OF RITCHIE (I pray she is our Holy Lady of One-Shot). All, really stinging pricks.

[pokeguru]

I just downloaded this less than a minute ago and notice Sarah Natochenny is starting to sound like the old Ash's voice. I hope.

[halloweenghost]

Great Episode! Alot of fun for a filler.. this is turning out to be a fun, fun story Arc I look forward to the rest of it.

Loved Seeing Raichu again.. Raichu is deffinatly one of my top fave pokemon.

[Blue Snover]

I really enjoyed this episode.

I never knew a Raichu could learn Dig, so that was a little surprising.

Grimer and Dawn seemed to work well together and she even managed to teach it some contest moves.

[Vycksta]

I thought I wouldn't like this episode... but I did somewhat. Angie, while annoying to start with, soon became a character that I generally go for; tomboyish, confident, determined, unafraid. Her spats with Ash and also Monferno's with her made me grin like the Cheshire Cat. *nod* Also whoot for Conway's return. I love how him and Dawn rebound off each other. The interaction is fantastic. xD

Also... I liked that end still, where Ash, Angie, Dawn, Brock, Conway and whoever-that-trainer-was-with-the-Croconaw heading towards the trainer's school. It struck me somehow.

[Littlemyuu]

I like this episode ^^ and yeah..i also dint knew that Raichu could learn Dig

[Ash-kid]

Wow, Ash has a Raichu....

And i loved to see in the first time a Monferno. it was great.

9/10

[wobbanut]

Since these camp episodes, Angie's become one of my "meant to be" characters. She's just someone I can see with Ash, they work well together. I'm the same way with Drew (May), Wilhemina (Brock), and the lady from the Hearthome tag battle (also Brock), just a character that I prefer with the main characters. Angie is so combative in this episode, but she gets better with each episode. I don't know, I just like her.

I also like how Team Rocket gets to take some time off with this arc. It's funny how they go the whole arc without actually going after any pokemon.

As for this episode, I don't like it as much as the succeeding episodes (only the Lickilicky episode rates worse with me), but I did like the Grimer/Dawn, Ash/Raichu, and Jessie/Smoochum scenes. That smoochum looked so adorable, too.

[Ciccone]

Hmm, I believe this was the start of the "Summer Camp episodes" in Japan. More like Filler episodes, they weren't very good.

It starts so suddenly, with Ash and Co. running into Rowan. Then they plan on staying at the camp to enjoy the activities. We saw Conway again, which was a surprise. But we also met Angie, a girl who looks like a boy :/

I wish Angie could've been a real boy. Though the change from guy rivals was refreshing. Monferno debuted, a little too early? 4/10

[JohnLee]

Hmm, I believe this was the start of the "Summer Camp episodes" in Japan. More like Filler episodes, they weren't very good.

It starts so suddenly, with Ash and Co. running into Rowan. Then they plan on staying at the camp to enjoy the activities. We saw Conway again, which was a surprise. But we also met Angie, a girl who looks like a boy :/

I wish Angie could've been a real boy. Though the change from guy rivals was refreshing. Monferno debuted, a little too early? 4/10

I enjoyed this beginning episode to one of the better filler arc in the season. It was nice to see Conway again even though I don't completely understand him yet. I hope we see Angie again.

[KGB13]

I found it ironic that Ash got a Raichu, it was so timid though. I also like that Angie is like a female Ash and their personalities clash. Nice episode.

[Willow's Tara]

Well there you go what the anime would be like if Ash had a Raichu lol, that's the closest people will get to seeing Ash with a Raichu (Unless he catches one for himself and has Pikachu still).

This episode wasn't too bad, I liked seeing Dawn and Grimer who seemed pretty good, it was funny how Grimer posed the same way as Dawn.

Is there a scene cut with Dawn and etc meeting Conway again? We see him in the first few scenes talking to Venonat and then at the bedroom where he says "I could be Dawn's partner" and it sounds like they already met up with him.

Jessie gets to have a Smoochum for a few episode, it's a shame they don't get to keep these Pokemon. I bet if James had joined in he would have had a Victreebel or some gnawing or hugging yet hurts to be hugged by it grass type Pokemon, they should have him joining it.

[Painkiller2001]

It's funny how the writers give Ash a Pokemon that we all know he will never have.

AshNco. have met Conway before? When did this happen?

[Lance The Champ]

This episode was fun! The blue team on top no surprise.... but why was Jessie's team at the second place they had not done anything extraordinary

[wind21]

I feel bad to write this today since we got a new episode. Totally lost track of the days...next week, I'll be more attentive, I suppose.

There are, I think, three things about this episode that stand out for me. The first, is how Ash is really not cut out for being a student. He's terrible, and, as Dumbledore said in the CofS, he has a "certain disregard for the rules." It's fun to think of how Ash may have turned out if pokemon school was required first before you could get your starter pokemon, b/c I think Ash probably wouldn't have the confidence in himself that he's needed to get as far as he has. In the Summer School Academy, he doesn't really get bothered by how poor he is in school, but in an episode further down the line in a similar situation, he really does get a little discouraged about it. Watching this series, there's many times we've seen Ash make mistakes that make us think he's a little stupid for someone who has done as well in the league as he has (the most surprising moment, for me, I think, was in the BF battle against Brandon, where he ordered Charizard to use Seismic Toss against Dusclops, only to have the move fail b/c of type immunity and cost Charizard the match), but I think it adds a whole new dimension to his character when he questions whether someone like him can really succeed. Again, in this episode, he laughs it off, but in a later episode, he's really bothered by it.

The other two striking things are more like footnotes. Dawn battles Conway to a standstill, which shows how far she's come as a trainer, since at the Tag Battle Competition, she was mostly following Conway's instructions to a word. The other thing is Ash is a little more mature than Pikachu is, which is funny considering how things were back in Kanto (I think, from what I remember; it's been a while since I've watched Kanto). Pikachu tries to break up a fight b/w Monferno and a Croconaw, but once its fur is burned by an ember, Pikachu immediately strikes back in anger. And this isn't a one-time occurance; Pikachu has really shown its temper a few times in Sinnoh, in a few scenes with Elekid and that Raichu episode. Ash, though, has largely been in check, with exceptions of Hunter J and Gary, and Paul (although I think Paul is a bit of a special case, in that Ash wouldn't have cared if Paul beat him, if Paul didn't train the way he trained-Paul was the one who started this rivalry, not Ash really). Here, Ash gets thunderbolted by Raichu but immediately shakes it off, saying that's what a real thunderbolt is like. I know these are two entirely different scenes, but again, I think Ash has been a lot more acquiescent in Sinnoh, and much more in control of his emotions.

Side note: And of course, we all know that the reason Angie called out her Shinx against Pikachu instead of using Monferno is that a pokemon who has no prior training under a trainer should not be able to beat a pokemon that has forever been with another trainer. Believable writing, that is.

[TabiPianist]

I love this little camp saga! It's sooo funny! I like this one because Ash falls asleep and the teacher is like holding him up in front of the whole class to see.

[G50]

This episode was ok... It was cool to see Dawn with Grimer, Ash with Raichu, and Brock with Magnemite. Dawn and Grimer really bonded with each other. Raichu was so shy, it even digged to hide away from Ash. It was cool how Brock used static electricity on Magnemite. It was cool how Dawn put seals on Grimer's Pokeball as if it was her own. How very convienient that Jessie ended up paired with Smoochum, one of her favorite Pokemon. It was funny when Dawn, Piplup, and Grimer did the same pose.

69/100

[Bulba the Great!]

Conway sneaking into the room in his nightgown made me laugh very hard. What a CREEPER!

This episode was excellent in many different ways. I particularly enjoyed Rowan's no-nonsense angry outbursts. What a great guy.

[DawnBoy]

Awesome and funny episode. Conway is hilarious in this episode and Dawn bonds with Grimer pretty well. All of the battles in this episode were pretty interesting too. I give it a 9/10!