True Blue Swablu! (340)

[Heracross]

-The music at the beginning, when the lightning struck, could've been better. It just didn't really fit the perilous situation.

Yes, in the original there was actually no music for much of the scene, and when the music finally came in, it was much more fitting. It gave it a much more ominous and tense atmosphere.

Anyway, this was definately a good filler. Of course everyone wanted May to catch Swablu, but in the end it taught her an important lesson to be able to let it go.

Team Rocket's Boss sequence was great in this episode. I like how Meowth referred to Butch and Cassidy as the boss's lazy underlings.XD Looks like Giovanni had a bit too much coffee too.

I wish they had kept more of the original music, especially Ready Go!, but it was a given that they would take that out.

[jolteonjak]

Personally I thought it kinda sucked...very bored with it. Though it was nice to see Beautifly and Taillow being used.

[Space Skitty]

I thought this was a great episode! Couldn't all fillers be so fantastic? Swablu was super cute. I loved how May handled everything in this episode, she was such a true friend to Swablu in the end. Torchic, Ash, & Pikachu were all very funny! XD Oh, and the Magic Powder cracked me up, especially when Ash wanted to use it! XDXDXD The ending was pretty sad... Overall 10/10! I only wish I could rate it higher!

[Akane]

This was a great filler epsiode! I loved it! I knew that May would not have a Swablu. It was right for her to let it go to its friends and family. She took great care of it. ^^ Ash was really funny in this one. There is a qoute(it is not exact, but close)

Ash: Now it is our turn Pikachu!
Pikachu: Pika!
Max: Umm...Ash, "The Magic Powder" is not real. It is fake.
Ash: No way! It seems real to me when Swablu was flying!
Pikachu blushed (embarrassed) XD

That was funny. And when Ash and Pikachu was in wings. Ash called this "The Flying Game". And Meowth's dream was actually great this time. So yep this was a awesome epsiode. ^^

[eppie-chan]

I thuoght the ep was great as well. The ending was a litle sad, reminded me of when Ash had to let his Butterfree go. I'd give it a 10 too.

[Frost]

I thought this was much better than last week's episode. Like it's been said, this was a great character-driven episode that gave a lot of character development to May and showed off why these four characters have the best chemistry of any of the various group formations throughout the series. Everybody had a role in this episode, unlike earlier days were Brock and Misty would just stand around doing nothing.

There were some great comedy spots (Torchic, Ash being stupid, Butch and Cassidy bowing to Giovanni's feet in the Fantasy of the Day, etc.), nice touches of drama with May staying up at night and the ending sequence. If I didn't read spoilers I would have figured that May would catch Swablu in this episode and I was really surprised when the show faked us out. Even the music was pretty good.

I was kind of thrown off by the characters pronouncing Swablu as "Swa-BLUE," especially when Ash said it in the episode's title, but I guess the emphasis could go toward either syllable of the name... very typical birdie-Pokemon voice, but it was still cute.

I'd give the episode around an 8.5 or 9 out of 10.

[Revolutionary Destiny]

This is one of the best filler episodes I have ever seen. Comedy (mainly coming from Ash being his dense self again but with Max and his line about May having a crush on someone from school) but plenty of character development with May. It's really amazing seeing as how in the beginning of Hoenn, she could care less about getting a pokemon. And amazingly, Brock wasn't cast off to the side, was semi-important (helping May taking care of Swablu), and acted mature (most likely because there were no girls he could flirt with. The writers need to do this more often!). This episode deserves a 10/10.

[Heracross]

Yeah, I forgot that Brock actually did something useful in this episode. Definately a plus since he hardly has an important role anymore aside from cooking.=/

[Chris]

No Ready Go!? Wow. That totally kills the mood of trying to teach Chiruto how to fly. :\

[Heracross]

Yeah, and the music they did have at that point in the dub was pretty boring. I didn't really expect them to keep Ready Go! though since they took it out of the last contest episode.=/ Probably objected to the Japanese lyrics.

[AJW73]

I'm sorry to say this, but I didn't like the way Max was blubbering at the end. They may have well just added some snot running out of his nose. In fact, I don't think anyone has snotted on Pokemon yet.

[Heracross]

Give him a break, he's only eight.:P Smaller children are generally more emotional.

[Pokemon Fan]

Give him a break, he's only eight.:P Smaller children are generally more emotional.

It could have even been related to him remembering how he had to let Jirachi go. Either way, it's a realistic portrayal to show Max as having less control over his emotions than the older kids. Despite his intelligence he isn't as mature. He'll demonstrate this quality several more times in the future I hear.

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Otherwise my thoughts are the same as most here. I loved that Taillow and Beautifly got in on the action, and Swablu was truly adorable. And I haven't seen Ash this goofy funny in a long time. At the same time he showed his growing maturity and wisdom, by remarking how any great breeder has to make good-tasting medicine. Usually it would be Brock to say something like that. Pikachu also had more personality in this episode than it has for a while.

But what I want to know is what Max was about to say May did. Did the nature of his final garbled sylables give any hint to it? It went something like this:

Max: "Once my sister puts her mind to something there's no stopping her. Once she had a crush on this boy and she act- *hand clamped on mouth*
May: "I was such a child back then!" *laughs nervously*

The dialogue was really quite good on all sides in this episode, especially Ash and Pikachu's scenes during the flight training and "magic powder." The ranger's last remark was rather deep:

Ranger: "Now that's what I call conflicted." *as he watches TR blast off after they yelled something that seemed to conflict with a previous belief statement*

Assuming I heard everything right. ^_^

[Robert]

This episode was okay. We've seen the "Try to teach a Pokemon to do something through strange methods" thing like two hundred fifty-five times now... So it was pretty boring most of the episode.

But,I loved the ending... I thought May was about to keep Swablu... Even though we've also seen the "Saying good-bye to a friend that flies off into the sunset" routine two hundred fifty-five times, I still find myself finding off a tear. Also, the music when May was caring for Swablu was pretty. It was funny when Max brought up May's past crush. Not the best episode ever, but far from bad.

[Silver Ryu]

The fantasy of the day was one of the only ones that actually made me laugh. (The part with Butch and Cassidy groveling at Giovonni's feet, and the part where he was leading a bunch of Rockets.) Swablu was cute!

[PDL]

pretty good episode... these types of episodes need to appear more often though

[V Faction]

Yeah, and the music they did have at that point in the dub was pretty boring. I didn't really expect them to keep Ready Go! though since they took it out of the last contest episode.=/ Probably objected to the Japanese lyrics.

Ah, I look forward to next weeks objective music input. No, I do. Seriously. Really!

[The Big Al]

They dug through the recycle for this one. Every cliche was used. At least we get to see some growth in May. However, I do believe that Swablu would have gone with her. Seriously unlikely but it would be interesting for them to meat again in the future (like Ash did withy Lapras).

Wow, I made a post about May without insulting her.

[Heracross]

Ah, I look forward to next weeks objective music input. No, I do. Seriously. Really!

Eh? I really can't tell if you're being serious or not. ^^;

[Puffs]

yes, they should've had a flashback to Max & Jirachi at the end. Character development:
May: Caring
Torchic: Impulsive
Ash: Dimwitted

There are only two points the movies were ever connected to the anime. 1, in Kanto when Mewtwo beat Gary then burst out of the gym. 2, when Ash recalled seeing Lugia in the Orange Islands.