A Real Rival Rouser! (655)

[streetlightdsb]

After watching the episode, now I really gotta say some of those KOs from Drapion were really just there only for the sake of making it the beast of Pauls team

Agreed. Plot power strikes again!

I can't even begin to describe how ****** I am about Torterra losing so Infernape can get an extra win AGAIN. I was shouting at the screen for gods sake.

That being said- Gliscor's battling against Drapion, Pikachu's believable win against Froslass and Infernape's KO against Ninjask were cool and saved the whole thing from being a disappointment.

Incidentally, it seems like most of the time Infernape uses Mach Punch to finish a battle (Croconaw, Jolteon, Aggron Ninjask) do you guys think it's coincidence or are the writers trying to establish it as his "finisher move?" If they are, I totally called it a while back XD

Anyway, here's how I think the kills should be/have been distributed throughout the whole battle.

Ash:
Staraptor- Nothing
Buizel- Gastrodon (DP186)
Infernape- Aggron(DP186) Electivire(DP188)
Pikachu- Froslass(DP187)
Torterra- Drapion (DP188) Withdrawn after using Synthesis.
Gliscor- Ninjask(DP187)

Paul:
Aggron-Nothing
Gastrodon-Nothing
Electivire-Pikachu (DP188) Torterra(DP188)
Ninjask-Nothing
Froslass-Nothing
Drapion- Buizel (DP187) Staraptor(DP187) Gliscor (DP188)

But no. Overusedape MUST have 3 kills. Now people will be saying Torterra is Ash's weakest for years :S

[Sayho1234]

This was a great episode! Can't wait for the finale!

[pokemonloverXD]

The fact Torterra hasn't won a single battle ever since it evolved bugs me alot still awesome ep, the battles were really great, though it wasn't Iwane's best work.

Infernape was awesome with it's blast burn

Infernape didn't use blast burn, it was flare blitz

[Cazak]

Also does anyone find it kinda ironic that the writers gave Paul, a trainer with the opposite training methods of Ash, a Froslass, the opposite evolution to Glalie, a pokemon of Ash's?

Maybe the writers just wanna emphasize on the way how Ash and Paul are completely different again. Paul wanted his Snorunt-if he had one-to evolve into a Froslass due to its dual type advantages. That being said, there wasn't any Froslass when Ash's Snorunt evolved.

[True]

Pretty good ep. overall. Just wasn't expecting Drapion to sweep that much. <_< Only it and Electivire will have any wins by the end of the battle. Shows how unbalanced Paul's team is. :/

Better team he could have used:

Torterra
Electivire
Magmortar
Ursaring
Drapion
Aggron

^ Would have made a much better battle. Otherwise, 7/10 for this episode.

[dawn hater]

From this battle it is clear that Ash needs more type variety in his team than his regular Grass-Fire-Water-Normal\Flying-Wildcard team. If he had a Steel or Poison type Pokemon then toxic spike wouldn't have mattered. And what was worse? Even Buizel got poisoned when the move was supposed to hit anyone switching in. If they made it look like every Pokemon touching the ground will get poisoned then what was saving Paul's Pokemon?
This battle was disappointing considering the huge build up. Why did they ad to give Torterra another loss? Ash could have chosen something else to be the fall guy.

[gliscor&yanmega]

From this battle it is clear that Ash needs more type variety in his team than his regular Grass-Fire-Water-Normal\Flying-Wildcard team. If he had a Steel or Poison type Pokemon then toxic spike wouldn't have mattered. And what was worse? Even Buizel got poisoned when the move was supposed to hit anyone switching in. If they made it look like every Pokemon touching the ground will get poisoned then what was saving Paul's Pokemon?
This battle was disappointing considering the huge build up. Why did they ad to give Torterra another loss? Ash could have chosen something else to be the fall guy.

How was Ash suppose to know that Toxic Spikes was going to be used? I don't think Ash has even known of that move until now. If he had Poison or Steel type then it would have helped(Assuming it wouldn't work on them) but it's not like he picks his team, the writers do.

Toxic Spikes may work differently then in the games, some moves are like that. It could be that any Pokemon that touches the ground does get Poison.

And the reason Paul's Pokemon didn't get Poison is because Drapion was the only one who was touching the ground while Toxic Spikes was in affect, considering it's part Poison it may have not worked. That or Toxic Spikes only works on the opponent.

It's getting annoying how everyone is complaining about Torterra not getting a win. The writers don't make every Pokemon equal. I've already acknowledge Torterra as a powerful Pokemon, just because it loses doesn't mean it's weak.

[Poke Master 7]

It's getting annoying how everyone is complaining about Torterra not getting a win. The writers don't make every Pokemon equal. I've already acknowledge Torterra as a powerful Pokemon, just because it loses doesn't mean it's weak.

I think it comes from the fact that despite us knowing Torterra is a strong pokemon, it's never shown. He's literally the only fully evolved starter of Ash's that hasn't gotten to show itself as being a powerhouse. With Charizard, Sceptile and Infernape, they all have shown impressive battle skills when they're in battle and have some impressive wins under their belts. Torterra on the other hand hasn't gotten a single win since reaching it's full evolution. And even worse than that, the entire plot point of Torterra's being a tank able to take hits and then strike back when the opponent least expects it went completely forgotten once he evolved from Grotle while Ash's other pokemon's problems (Infernape's blaze, Gible's Draco Meteor, Gliscor's trouble with flying and fear of battle) were all solved. There's literally no excuse on the writers part considering how long they had to work with this problem, it's just bad writing in that area.

[FlyAsADunsparce]

I liked the episode.

What I liked:
Paul not having cliche pokemon. I like his Ninjask, Gastrodon and Froslass a lot!
Gliscor (:


What I didnt like:
That some pokemon knocked down 3 pokemon (Drapion)
That some pokemon didnt knock down anyone (Staraptor, Torterra, Froslass, Ninjask)
Ash switching out every 5 seconds.

[Acetrainer44]

torterra v darkrai torterra wins in the finals that would be hilarious and kinda awsome

[Silver_Seoul]

You know I just realized what would be terrible?

If they end up making Drapion knock Gliscor out and then Infernape takes a fourth win.

[True]

You know I just realized what would be terrible?

If they end up making Drapion knock Gliscor out and then Infernape takes a fourth win.

Judging from the preview, it's most likely gonna be a tie since we didn't see Infernape vs Drapion or Gliscor vs Electivire, but it's bad enough knowing Drapion swept over half of Ash's team. <_<

Imagine if it took out Gliscor and tied/KO'd Pikachu.. then I'd lose a lot of respect for the writers.

[randomspot555]

Well, Torterra didn't get a single win after it evolved. What a waste of an evolution.

[shac]

The best part, easily, was the Froslass part. That is how it should have been in the Froslass intro epiosde. It really showed her creepy, ghostly manners, and the effect of snow cloak was fantastic as well. I could almost forgive the writers for making a mess out of Torterra for this....almost.

[Magical Needle Smash]

For those grousing over Infernape vs. Ninjask, it was not a one-hit knockout. It was established that Ninjask took damage from the erupting battlefield, which is why it was moving much more slowly than it was earlier against Gliscor.

Considering how fragile its defenses are, two hits are more than enough to finish it.

[streetlightdsb]

For those grousing over Infernape vs. Ninjask, it was not a one-hit knockout. It was established that Ninjask took damage from the erupting battlefield, which is why it was moving much more slowly than it was earlier against Gliscor.

Considering how fragile its defenses are, two hits are more than enough to finish it.

I think what people do is only take type match ups into consideration. Sure, Mach Punch is 1/4x effective, but if you take a punch that strong it's going to hurt, regardless of typing.

[Shego]

Knowing Paul he probably wants to overpower Ash by weaken his pokemon by order Drapion uses Toxic Spikes on the ground. Staraptor,Buizel,and Torterra were knocked out by him. But things has change when Infernape steps in by digging underground and use Flare Blitz to get rid of Toxic Spikes. Next Drapion got recalled. Then he bring out Ninjask and battle Infernape. Sure Infernape gets a little bit weaken by Giga Drain but he got Ninjask right on the spot by using Mach Punch thus take him out. Some of my predictions were correct. Pikachu took out Frostlass and then he got recalled for the later battle. After those, then Paul bring out Drapion once again while Ash bring out Gliscor but he was a little shaken, but have a fighting spirit. Great that he use Giga Impact in the smoke and then launch at Drapion before he use Poison Fang. After that, he rolls in the sky while recharaging for using Giga Impact. Then Gliscor dodges his Pin Missles thus the episode ends. So far Misty,May,Max,Lyra,Kohury,Tracey,Angie,Richie,Gary ,Pro. Oak,Delia,Kenny,Zoey,and Candice haven't make their appearance yet. Ohh.

[TrainerOfLegend]

I think it comes from the fact that despite us knowing Torterra is a strong pokemon, it's never shown. He's literally the only fully evolved starter of Ash's that hasn't gotten to show itself as being a powerhouse. With Charizard, Sceptile and Infernape, they all have shown impressive battle skills when they're in battle and have some impressive wins under their belts. Torterra on the other hand hasn't gotten a single win since reaching it's full evolution. And even worse than that, the entire plot point of Torterra's being a tank able to take hits and then strike back when the opponent least expects it went completely forgotten once he evolved from Grotle while Ash's other pokemon's problems (Infernape's blaze, Gible's Draco Meteor, Gliscor's trouble with flying and fear of battle) were all solved. There's literally no excuse on the writers part considering how long they had to work with this problem, it's just bad writing in that area.

I agree. The writers aren't perfect, and they obviously forgot about Torterra mid-way through. However, even though Torterra is a beast, I'm thinking that just because it is one does not mean that it has to be one on Ash's team. I still don't get why he didn't use him Vs Volkner the second time around.

[Blaziryu]

I thought this episode was good. It was better than the previous episode. I like how Shinji was using both the battle arena & the environment to his advantage.

[dougtrio]

Watching the episodes back to back make me realize something.

Ash should've replaced Staraptor's Aerial Ace with Defog. It would give something to counter most of Paul's non offensive strategies like Light Screen, Toxic Spikes, Reflect, etc.

On another note, they should've given Torterra the Aggron win, so no one would be *****ing about it losing here.