Manectric Charge! (335)

[V Faction]

I also think it was this trainer's choice thing is not correctly "educating" our begginer's correctly. A few weeks ago they said Seviper is the right choice to use aginst Forretress. ARE THEY EVEN PAYING ANY ATTENTION TO THE GAME!!! Poison type attacks are useless against steel-type Pokemon. And with Forretress being a steel-type, It can learn any rock attacks like Rock Slide (my personal favorite). Which means Seviper will be done dinner in just two turns.

Yes yes, we all know of that particular TC and we've all given our opinions and reasons on it.

But interesting you should mention a Move Tutor based attack. If you want to get into unnatural moves, just hand Seviper Flamethrower or Fire Blast. Also, Rock is neutral on Poison, so Rock Slide wouldn't exactly be the best choice, compared to, say, Earthquake, now would it?

Are these Trainer's Choices shown in Japan?

No, they are crafted by 4Kids for the Dubbed broadcasts. Japan uses standard episode break bumpers.

[Gravy]

And both Venusaur and Blastoise? Maybe I'm naive, but I still say they have very different voices from "the voice".

They do, but they sound very similar to it. I'm pretty sure that in the episode 'The light fantastic', the artist's Venusaur had the voice. If you compare it to the Venusaur seen in 'Bulbasaur's mysterious garden' theres a huge difference.

The unexpected part that it helped Electrike evolve. I figured it already would be.

....I figured that it would have already evolved also. Up until now thats what I've always thought was the case >_>; I suppose it was a nice touch though. Gave both Ash and Wattson a chance to test out their new pokémon I guess.

Are these Trainer's Choices shown in Japan?

No, they just get a quick eyecatch image.

[ronster486]

Skitty really is powerful, it suprised me in this episode. Ash was really bad in this episode though. 7/10

[CyberCubed]

Well it's obvious that 4kids only knows BASIC pokemon battle knowledge. I can assure you none of the execs at 4kids EP train their pokemon, know what a DV is, know that some pokemon are dual-types, etc.

It seems most of their knowledge just comes from the show, they're definitely not basing the TC's off the Game strategy, but the anime strategy.

[The Big Al]

Well, I don't want Watt having my back in a fight. Come on, it's called Thunder Wave. Though, considering how many times Skitty hit Ampharos, you think Static would have kicked in. Apparently Wattson didn't pick his assistant on his battle skills.

Torchic learns Quick Attack at Egad, Level 28. Not even going by levels, Torchic is no where near that expierence unless May's been feeding it Rare Candies.

Still, Manectric v Torkoal was sweet. It's too bad Ash threw his brains out the window and used Overheat three times. Come on, you know that Overheat grows weaker with repetitive use.

[Pinky the Mew]

[QUOTE=V Faction]Also, Rock is neutral on Poison, so Rock Slide wouldn't exactly be the best choice, compared to, say, Earthquake, now would it?[QUOTE]

Oh, yeah that's right. Well, sometimes even I get confused when battling. Either way, I feel that they aren't expanding the right kind of knowledge. Mineral-based Pokemon Is the most top choice, When it comes to defensive and offensive!

By the way has anyone noticed that pokemon besides Pikachu is using Iron tail more often?

[PDL]

^ you do realize that they've been showing Iron Tail ever since the swimming Rhydon episode way back in Jotho right?

and I'm surprized that no one's mentioned that they've replaced the plushie torchic with a pink ribbon box? well, it's not that big a deal, but I thought you people would go apeshit over because you people always go apeshit over things that don't go your way

[Robert]

This episode was another "it's kind of just there" episode. I'm glad May won her battle, but Torkal's crying and smoke is already old (even though I like his voice). There was not much in the way of humor or action... Brings back memories of Johto to me...

[Gravy]

they've replaced the plushie torchic with a pink ribbon box?

Eh? You mean they erased the plushie and digitally painted a ribbon box in its place? If so....wtf? O_O;;

[Yellow]

This episode wasnt' that great. It was sort of boring because all they I saw was Torkoal trying to play soccer XD and Ash and May battling. Also, Skitty VS Ampharos was really stupid. How the f*ck could Skitty take down and Ampharos?

[Akane]

This was a good epsiode. I missed the first fifteen mintues of it, dang. But the battles were awesome. May and Skitty make a great team. I was amazed that Ash made Torkoal used Overheat about three times. I said, "No Ash...ugh". But he did very well. Even though he lost to Watson. Watson did a lot better than last time. So yeah this epsiode was good. ^^ I wish I got to see the first fifteen mintues of it. *overslept, grr*

[Space Skitty]

The battles were great; Skitty rules! May's getting good with Skitty. Manectric was a cool Pokemon. The battle between it & Torkoal was neat. It's a shame Ash used Overheat so much... Even I said something when he used it the third time. Ash was a little rude when May got to battle first but... I know how rash he is by now. Oh, and Pikachu actually made a very cute sound at one point on this episode. I haven't heard it make a cute sound in a while...

[Indigo]

I'm kinda disappointed...

Ampharos VS. Skitty was kinda...fake. I mean, what are the odds of a not-very-hard trained Skitty beating an Ampharos, a 3rd stage Pokemon. Yeah, May HAD to win, but it isn't the most ethical outcome in the world.

The carnival was kinda cute. I think Ash and Max kinda share that "let's get going to find Pokemon!" kiddie thing, and that's really sweet. And then while May and Max are fighting, Ash and Brock stand on the sidelines, being mature and remembering when Ash and Misty used to act like that. I love the Hoenn group--it fits so well!

But...here's my rant.

Ash Ketchum is not a steady character. At first it seems as if he's learning so much in Hoenn, working strategies, taking his time, forming a plan, using his brain. But then every time the writers want him to lose, they make him a stupid newbie again, and he forgets everything he's ever learned. It's agitating.

Take Ash VS. Drew for a second. Ash, had he been using his techniques from when he battled Brawly, probably would've come off as a much tougher opponent, even though he had to lose. But instead, it's "Taillow, do this!...wait. It didn't work. So I lose! Oh well, you did great." I despise it.

But then when Ash has to win, he gets smart. Take Ash VS. Flannery. Corpish hitting Torkoal's shell from the side like that was absolutely genius! Now why can't he take that genius and channel it into somewhere where he has to lose, but still comes off as though he tried his best?

So I come to this match. Ash knows ALL TO WELL that he can't have Torkoal use Overheat so many times. He also knows that talking so much isn't going to get him anywhere either. And he ALSO knows that confidence alone is stupid. But guess what? Ashy boy has to lose, and he has to lose badly. Why? Because the writers don't realize that characters learn from experience!!!

Oh sure, you may think that May and Skitty are getting better. And they probably are. But I'll bet you that the next time they're obliged to lose, it'll be by a lot. Or maybe this is only an Ash thing. Who knows.

But I'm really sick of it. The writers have got to make Ash more consistent. It annoys the crap out of me when my favorite character loses a match he should've put up a good fight for, if not won. Imagine if this kind of thing happens during the Hoenn League! Horrible, just horrible.

That's the end of my rant. Scream at me if you will, but I've voiced my opinion, and that's all that matters to me now.

[V Faction]

I didn't realize this sooner, but for those of you interested, Manectric's last attack was Shock Wave according to the guide. I was wondering why that particular "Thunder Wave" attack looked so different from all the others and at first thought it was a result from Charge. But the Mauville TM set me straight. I sure hope that doesn't happen in the future, not that there's been any new episode with Shock Wave in it IIRC...

[Geodude]

-In a future Japanese episode, a Lairon uses Shock Wave.

-Cyber, Tyranitar is Rock/Dark, not just Rock.

-I guess the reasoning about Overheat was that they wanted to confirm that the effect applies to anything that uses the move, not just Flannery's Torkoal. Better to demonstrate that here, in a meaningless battle, than in a future gym battle or something. Rest assured, Ash doesn't make the same mistake again.

[Indigo]

-I guess the reasoning about Overheat was that they wanted to confirm that the effect applies to anything that uses the move, not just Flannery's Torkoal. Better to demonstrate that here, in a meaningless battle, than in a future gym battle or something. Rest assured, Ash doesn't make the same mistake again.

That would be a good explanation, had Brock not informed Ash of this before in "All Torkoal, No Play". Remember?

So my case still stands, it seems.

[The Big Al]

Yup Ash knew better. Why don't they just make the oppponent better instead of making Ash dumber? I've sat there going Ash, you know you shouldn't have done that, how could you be so stupid. (It's like watching a Lions game. )

[Psychic Venusaur]

I didn't realize this sooner, but for those of you interested, Manectric's last attack was Shock Wave according to the guide. I was wondering why that particular "Thunder Wave" attack looked so different from all the others and at first thought it was a result from Charge. But the Mauville TM set me straight. I sure hope that doesn't happen in the future, not that there's been any new episode with Shock Wave in it IIRC...

I was wondering why a Thunder Wave did damage. I was expecting Shock Wave somewhere in this episode. Reminds of when Shiftry supposedly used a blue Stun Spore to put Joy to sleep.

This episode was pretty average imo. The main thing is that Manectric was introduced.

I thought the TC should be Swampert. Nothing typewise made either Swampert or Larvitar a better choice than the other, so, going by stats, Swampert would be a better choice.

7/10

[Geodude]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that last "Thunder Wave" was actually Shock Wave, since it was done in a completely different manner, and the ball of energy didn't exist in the other Thunder Waves.

[Pokemon Fan]

That would be a good explanation, had Brock not informed Ash of this before in "All Torkoal, No Play". Remember?

So my case still stands, it seems.

My theory is it was very much a test battle for Ash and Torkoal. He wanted to test Torkoal's abilities, it's limits so to speak, and he did. He wanted to see just how long Overheat could be useful on his Torkoal as comapred to Flannery's. He Overheat once and it worked fine, he used it a second time and it seemed to work about as well. Now he knows that his Torkoal can't use Overheat more than twice without it becoming too weak to be very good. It was a nice touch how the width of Overheat got so thin by the third try, showing how it weakens in strength. It was still a rather risky move, but clearly Ash saw understanding his Pokemon's power as more important than necessarily winning. Or I could be completely wrong. ^_^

And I thought that the match between Skitty and Ampharos was realistic enough. With only Iron Tail and Thundershock this Ampharos wasn't the most experienced or powerful one on the planet, and Skitty is conceivably not that low of a level. Even so it go to the point that Skitty had next to no energy left, and as May noted it would be beaten if it was hit even one more time. Then she got lucky with the Assist causing Quick Attack which enabled Skitty to dodge damage and cause it at the same time.

So, it was Shock Wave huh, I wish I'd paid more attention to that scene... although Thunder Wave is capable of causing damage in the anime (i.e Lance's Dragonite, Jasmine's Magnemite), really, the Shiny Magneton in Johto was the first time we'd ever seen the move used to paralyze an opponent.