League Unleashed! (651)

[wildheart90]

nope it was still a cyndaquil

[pokefandt]

Honestly, the battle was not what it was hyped up to be. Staraptor/Roserade was what? A minute maybe? And Quilava's battle was barely showed. Heracross's battle was good. Love the mysterious LT. Barry was actually "scared".

I think it was the fact that the guy had Darkrai with him. Being in the general presence of that thing can never be comfortable.

[_Taidow_]

This battle was a bit of a disappointment.

Although Nando actually spoke during the battle.

Aerial Ace, Sleep Talk, Focus Punch.... sheesh what other moves do Ash's reserves know?

[Thriller]

The main battle was boring until Heracross came in, Team Rocket are scheming just for the sake of scheming, and I'm disappointed they aren't bothering to keep the Darkrai a secret.

[pokefandt]

Heracross is freakin strong man!! The might have to fix that battlefield later is all I can say.

[Lance The Champ]

Wow the appearance of Darkrai was really startling.....wonder who is its trainer???

[DoleWhip]

How disappointing...we barely got to see Quilava, and I thought it would star (with Armaldo being Nando's last pokemon). In fact, we saw practically everything that mattered in the preview, just not in order. And what was the point of giving Quilava flame wheel and eruption if we never see those moves again (at this pace, I can't imagine Quilava getting another battle)?

Best part of the episode was seeing Darkrai for 2 seconds, and how scared everyone was of it (along with the music, haha).

[Pepsi_Plunge]

Just saw the actual episode and indeed the battle was nothing special, the best part was Heracross vs Kriketune.

Straptor fight was totally rushed like 1min fight it ended fast like hell, Quilava vs Armaldo fight was interrupted to show Team Rocket selling candy then it comes back they are already tired and knock each other out with one attack... seriously this was so rushed and with the revelation that PAul vs Barry will be 3vs3 we now know Ash vs Conway will be the same, damn... even in 3vs3 they have to rush things?

Couldnt they just ****ing ignore team rocket selling candy, who the hell cares i doubt that 1 ****ing fan of the series prefers loosing 5 minutes of a 22 minutes episode with Team Rocket selling candy.


FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...

/end rant


The rest was cool i liked Conway and Barry appearing and the revelation of Darkrai and Heracross fight ofc it was awesome specially the ending but even Heracross fight was fast in my opinion, i would love if the battles were like battle frontier and actually take some time, its incredible how a pokemon can be a ****ing tank in a fight and get one shoted in another just because of rushing.

[Kazuki Mirai]

Okay, what the heck? I can say is this.

They skip several parts of Quilava's battle? It evolved and learned new moves. The next thing they do is cut off its battle with some TR filler scenes? I call blasphemy!

Least Heracross is the saving grace of this battle and not to mention the star of it. Ash picking it because it knows Sleep Talk and figured that Nando would put his Pokemon to sleep shows how much he thinks ahead. He definitely show much he improved.

[Feralninja]

I really get the feeling that they are rushing this arc so that BW can start on time. This battle seemed much less impressive than previous ones in other leagues. I feel bad for poor quilava, next to no screen time. I hope he's in at least one more battle...

[Corzola]

Okey, we have seen the first of the hyped Sinnoh-legaue eps and the first verdict is to be made...

Good things:
* Ash remembering his Sinnoh- gym battles
* The Johto- Pokemons return to glory. Heracross is one powerhouse alright.
* Barry freaking out over the LT and the Pokemon in specific.
* Conway´s parts, if you want to stalk someone, ask him for help!

Bad things:
* Some parts of the battle Ash vs. Nando was to rushed
* TR hogging the screen for I don´t know how many minutes - doing - absolutly nothing of importance!
* The general feeling that this tournament will be very rushed in some parts while being outstanding in other ways.

All in all - 7/10

[Viteh]

They only showed 1 board with 8 trainers so I thought that it's already top 8

No, they showed 1 board with 8 pairs, so 16 trainers.

[jolteonjak]

I am choosing to remain indifferent on this episode. For the first time, I think the preview looked better than the outcome in regards to the Staraptor/Roserade battle. There wasn't much to it at all. TR needs to get some skin-eating bacteria or something and go away! They took so much time away from the Quilava/Armaldo battle that I was left really disliking it. Now the saving grace of this episode...the Heracross/Kricketune battle. This was awesome! Heracross proved how much of a freaking beast it is. Secretly I was hoping/wishing that Heracross was imagining it was fighting Swellow like that...damn bird.

Conway and Barry are both awesome. Too bad we didn't see Conway more. I'd really like to know what Ash and Paul talked about.

Let's see...new version of "The Greatest Everyday" is certainly not the greatest! The new ending seemed like they wanted to use "Glory Days" again, but changed the tune at the last minute...either way it sucked.

Quite honestly all I care about the Darkrai trainer is their gender. I'm hoping for a strong female. They gave us Katie in Hoenn, let's hope we get someone strong.

[Durden]

Like everyone else is saying... it sucks hard that the battle got shafted in favor of TR selling candy. Even the Heracross/Kricketune battle felt short.

All scenes with Kouhei were really awesome though. Love that creepy/stalker personality of his XD

[BlueDragonfangirl]

For me, it would have been so much better if Team Rocket had only been shown for a few seconds. Oh wells, Barry and Conway were a hoot in it and I loved that scene of Ash waking up in the middle of the night and remembering all his past gym battles.
The animation was great and some new moves, FYI I think Paul is secretly cheering Ash onXD

[phoenix12]

first off, question...what was the powder attack that Roserade used? Sweet Scent (to make Staraptor "less evasive")? at first I thought Stun Spore or Sleep Powder, but it didn't really paralyze Staraptor OR put it to sleep...

for the most part, I agree with everyone else's reaction to the episode. after really enjoying DP 182, the Ash VS Nando battle made this episode a HUGE disappointment. I'm fine with there being fewer trainers in the Sinnoh League and therefore no preliminary rounds...but if we're gonna dive right into 3 VS 3, I expect a LOT better than this! This PALED in comparison to Ash VS Macey, Jackson, and the Hoenn League double battles. The biggest shame is undoubtedly Quilava's battle getting shafted for TR time...what's the point of showing Quilava learn an impressive move like Eruption if it's never gonna be used in an actual battle? ARGH!

The bright sides: I do like how the legendary trainer is being handled. Not only does the audience already know what kind of competition is in store, but Ash and Barry both know as well. They understand what a threat Darkrai presents. I'm also glad that the Sinnoh League's last-minute-big-rival/competitor is someone ominous and eerie, a refreshing change from the ever-so-bland Harrison and Tyson. Ash's gym recap was a welcome moment too.

Despite a couple good elements, I still think this episode was a terrible start to the Sinnoh League...Ash VS Nando was one of the most disappointing League battles ever.

[Waterpokes]

They gave Dawn, Brock, Conway and especially Barry way too much screentime! I would personally keep the legendary trainer a mystery, with her using not using Darkrai or if she/he has any other legendaries at all. Would be awesome if she/he just pulled out Darkrai. It seemed like neither Dawn or Brock cared at all. Makes me think legendaries in the anime, is just as important as a Magikarp.

Barry, in this episode, was a pain in the butt. Give Barry the scene with legendary trainer passing him, but that's it! No more of Barry stupid flashback! Done, finito! And please, less interaction between Dawn and Brock. You've had 180+ episodes to make them have interact, and you start now? Give me a break! And please, just sit your down!
Also Team Rocket got much screentime this episode and isn't it the same deal like in Johto/Hoenn? Unless they do some crazy plot-twist and makes them work for the lady, who sends them to Isshu!

And considering we got soo many useless stuff in this episode, the battle suffered.

Staraptor VS Roserade was terrible. Brave Bird = Instant KO! Come on, make it believeable. Nando won freaking 8 badges as well, so don't make him lose that easily!

Staraptor VS Armaldo = Dude, that's depressing. They could have made a bigger effort!

Quilava VS Armaldo = We get to see one attack on each other and then over? I know they fought against each other, but still, much much fail! Who here would see Team Rocket then the battle itself? Disapointing, and then one attack, over! Hell, even Dawn VS Jessie in the Grand Festival was better! And that battle sucked!

Heracross VS Kricketune = Awesome! After being a general sucky episode, they manage to do something right. Epic battle is epic battle, and the fact they used music from AG Movie 8 or 9, makes it even sweeter!

So the only good things in this episode: Heracross VS Kricketune battle, AG Movie 8 or 9 music (I think it was from AG), Quilava <333
Rest of the episode: Boring and useless in most parts!

I give this episode 3/10, and now I'm being nice!

[Platinum fan.]

I'm disappointed with how this episode turned out. Quilava was cheated for Team Rocket screen time? Really, We've been waiting to see Ash with a Quilava since Johto, he finally get's one and his battle is really short and he can't even beat one of Nando's Pokemon without taking himself out? Well so much for Quilava.

The best part's of this episode were Barry, Conway, and Heracross. Heracross is easily the best thing that came out of Johto. The legendary mystery trainer who Uses Darkrai, I wonder if he/she only has Darkrai as a strong Pokemon? Nah he/she can't be like Drake the Dragonite Trainer.

Overall I'm shocked how rushed this league feels. Without Barry, Conway, and Heracross this episode....well let's all hope the next one's are really good. I'm still being optimistic.

[JD]

So team rocket stole all of the Ash and Nando's battle time thats cool(sarcasm) aside from that the episode was okay. Barry and Conway's interactions were pretty funny Conway was pretty funny himself but the battle between Ash and Nando was pretty dissapointing. I mean OHKO on Roserade cutting Quilava's battle with Armaldo the Johto Starters always get the short end of the stick. But Heracross's battle with Kricketune made up for it I can't wait until Paul's battle with Barry hopefully its better then this battle.

[Locormus]

They skip several parts of Quilava's battle? It evolved and learned new moves. The next thing they do is cut off its battle with some TR filler scenes? I call blasphemy!

Least Heracross is the saving grace of this battle and not to mention the star of it. Ash picking it because it knows Sleep Talk and figured that Nando would put his Pokemon to sleep shows how much he thinks ahead. He definitely show much he improved.

I agree with the Quilava thing.. it learned three new moves and evolved and what did we see? One move and over to the next battle? If it doesn't get anything else, I'd be disappointed at least a bit more then I was at Naruto Shippuden 167. (for a taste of the animation miracles in Naruto Shippuden 167, follow this linky right here: http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/4195/paink.png

For the record, totally called Sleep Talk when people were saying that it was focussing.. Ups the chances of Ash using it against Darkrai by 300&#37; in my book.

first off, question...what was the powder attack that Roserade used? Sweet Scent (to make Staraptor "less evasive")? at first I thought Stun Spore or Sleep Powder, but it didn't really paralyze Staraptor OR put it to sleep...

The bright sides: I do like how the legendary trainer is being handled. Not only does the audience already know what kind of competition is in store, but Ash and Barry both know as well. They understand what a threat Darkrai presents. I'm also glad that the Sinnoh League's last-minute-big-rival/competitor is someone ominous and eerie, a refreshing change from the ever-so-bland Harrison and Tyson. Ash's gym recap was a welcome moment too.

Despite a couple good elements, I still think this episode was a terrible start to the Sinnoh League...Ash VS Nando was one of the most disappointing League battles ever.

Good call on the Sweet Scent thing, it does make sense and the animation in the games is pink right, but Magical Leaf never misses, so why go through the hassle of using Sweet Scent?

I agree with you on Ash vs. Nando.. really a waste while Nando had made such a name for himself during the Grand Festival versus Zoey..

Lol, Team Rocket's subplot came to no surprise to me after I made an epic post about the logistics and costs/revenue that comes along with these leagues... And what do we get: a salescoordinatorlady and a marketing plan meeting for the league merchandise stores, strategically placed around the arena's! Well well, well, Hoennmaster owes me an apology, or not, his choice.. Obviously the logistics and the economical side of these things do get touched upon! xD

The title of this episode should've been different:

It shouldn't have been 'League opening! Ash vs. Nando!!'

but rather:

'League opening! How to efficiently market to the foolish audiences during a large national scale sportsevent!!!'

Or:

'League opening! Taking lessons from Coke!!!'
'League opening! Wave yo flags!!!'