The Battle According to Lenora (674)

[Teshub]

The episode was pretty much Ash getting pwnted and him getting angry at several things, but then realizing he has been taking it easy too much and needs to toughen up and be manly.

[TheNewGuy]

Aloe being allowed to switch Pokemon was a total asspull. Not being able to switch has been standard rules for a while now.

It'll only be justified if every other leader in the region is also allowed to switch, because then it will be fair.

[garfield15]

First of all, that was never said as a rule.

Second, I'm not 100% sure about this, but I believe the rule for the gym match was a 2v2 but the Pokemon they picked had to fight the Pokemon they went up against. That's why when Poka was Roar'ed out, she switched to Miruhogg.

[Teshub]

That whole roar thing was kind of dumb, im not sure what was the point.

[MidnightMelody]

That might be it, in the zoom part it could been dark but then shaded in. But on the last episode, in the last part of the opening, it already looked colored.

The episode way okay, nothing out of the ordinary unless people start making a big deal about Aloe somehow switching pokemon, but it was not mid-battle but after one pokemon fainted. They also designed Aloe very thick, she looks almost as wide as as Don George.

Who cares?! Wow people complain about the little things. Not really watching this ep since once the dub starts I'll just be watching it and not coming here for spoilers anymore. But from the sound it seems like it was not the best battle

[kemal07]

That whole roar thing was kind of dumb, im not sure what was the point.

Well Aloe is a Gym Leader and they do have to fight as hard as they can no matter how close they are with Ash beforehand. So I was thinking that Roar might of been Aloe's tactic in order to get a sneak peak of Ash's second Pokemon therefore leaving her to switch out if she felt a bit threatened by it or maybe saving best to last even though Miruhog is probably her main Pokemon out of the two.

[gliscor&yanmega]

The episode was pretty much Ash getting pwnted and him getting angry at several things, but then realizing he has been taking it easy too much and needs to toughen up and be manly.

Well there is also Team Rocket now having the meteorite. Also, Ash didn't look angry more frustrated if anything.

That whole roar thing was kind of dumb, im not sure what was the point.

To know what Pokemon Ash has and will be using, so Aloe can then think of a strategy to beat them.

It can also catch you off guard and that could affect your game.

EDIT: Also, just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it's dumb.

[Chimchar15]

These last two gym matches were better than a majority of the ones in DP. Seriously the anime cast is doing a great job. I can't wait for next week's episode. Also Teshub stop being so picky. What you dislike about the episode has more to do with you rather than the actual episode itself.

[Endoplasmic Reticulum]

So...how many seconds of screen time did team rocket have in this episode? 10 seconds or 30 seconds?

[_Taidow_]

1. Yootery was so "kawaii" lol

2. Aloe switching pokemon makes sense since in Unova they migth have different views on GLs switching pokemon.

3. Mijumaru is psychotic lol.

4. MijumAru and Pokabu have gotten OHKO'd too easily lately. Its embarrasing. Ash needs to train more.

5. I had a feeling Ash was going to lose 2-0.

6. Dent w/ Pikachu looked wierd.

7. Team Rocket was impressive tday.

[Teshub]

Well there is also Team Rocket now having the meteorite. Also, Ash didn't look angry more frustrated if anything.



To know what Pokemon Ash has and will be using, so Aloe can then think of a strategy to beat them.

It can also catch you off guard and that could affect your game.

EDIT: Also, just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it's dumb.

I see how you needed to do that edit because it would have been pointless to roar when there are only 2 vs 2. It offered no strategical advantage except starting out with two different pokemon. It's not like she could rawr and then picked something suitable to battle mijumaru, because she only has 1 option only, the meerhug.

[dman_dustin]

First of all, that was never said as a rule.

Maybe not in Unova but it has been in the other regions.

Or were you referring to Unova specifically?

Really? I first thought Aloe might switch her Pokemon and gym leaders did switch there Pokemon before Ash battles blaine, but since his battle with blaine no switch outs, until i guess this episode.

Well ignoring the fact that was Kanto where battles weren't exactly written very well, it wouldn't really count. Since thankfully Johto introduced referees to the battle, making battles a bit better.

So...how many seconds of screen time did team rocket have in this episode? 10 seconds or 30 seconds?

I'd have to say their switching sequence was fairly long, so about 30 seconds, maybe more.

[Krizor]

These last two gym matches were better than a majority of the ones in DP.

I beg to differ.

The first 2 Gym matches in DP had a lot more going on with them with Paul battling Roark, Roark's Cranidos evolving, and Ash battling Gardenia in the forest before their official match. Not to mention Ash was also a lot more focused on training for his battles than he is now. The 2 Gym matches Ash has had in BW were pretty straight forward with very little build up, which made them a lot less exciting in my opinion.

This match was OK at best, hopefully the rematch will be a lot better.

[random_person#4840]

I see how you needed to do that edit because it would have been pointless to roar when there are only 2 vs 2. It offered no strategical advantage except starting out with two different pokemon. It's not like she could rawr and then picked something suitable to battle mijumaru, because she only has 1 option only, the meerhug.

Maybe it was to force Ash into using the 2 pokemon he had. Maybe he didn't want to use Mijumaru but since it was forced out, he had to use the two he ended up showing instead of using pikachu or snivy as the second pokemon.

[gliscor&yanmega]

So...how many seconds of screen time did team rocket have in this episode? 10 seconds or 30 seconds?

They got about a minute and 20 seconds.

Speaking of them, the way they stole the meteorite was pretty awesome to me. Just shows how awesome they are.

I see how you needed to do that edit because it would have been pointless to roar when there are only 2 vs 2. It offered no strategical advantage except starting out with two different pokemon. It's not like she could rawr and then picked something suitable to battle mijumaru, because she only has 1 option only, the meerhug.

It wasn't pointless.

This is how it went:
Yooterii vs Tepig-Aloe had Yooterii use Roar to see Ash's other Pokemon.
Yooterii vs Oshawott-Aloe recalls Yooterii because Oshawott is a Water type.
Miruhog vs Oshawott-Ash goes to recall, but Aloe doesn't want that and blocks it. She then uses Miruhog's Thunderbolt against Oshawott, providing an advantage for her thanks to the use of Roar.

It was a strategy she used, to see what Ash had and act on what she sees best fit. She figured Miruhog's Thunderbolt would be useful so she used Miruhog instead of Yooterii. It wasn't pointless.

[RickHoenn]

These last two gym matches were better than a majority of the ones in DP. Seriously the anime cast is doing a great job. I can't wait for next week's episode. Also Teshub stop being so picky. What you dislike about the episode has more to do with you rather than the actual episode itself.

This.

I got more pumped of the BW gym battles because of the pace and so far they haven't been disappointing.

It was torturing to wait for 20 or 30 or 50 episodes for a gym battle.

Aloe looks so cool and Yoterri(?) is so kawaii, Great strategy Aloe used in this battle, LOL @ people calling this pointless! and seeing Team Rocket being competent after 12 years is always a relief!

Again like Shooti's case, Ash deserved to lose, come on! you need to train more, Oshawott & Tepig are far behind Pika & Snivy. ._.

[gliscor&yanmega]

Maybe it was to force Ash into using the 2 pokemon he had. Maybe he didn't want to use Mijumaru but since it was forced out, he had to use the two he ended up showing instead of using pikachu or snivy as the second pokemon.

Pretty sure that's not the case. I think you have to decide which Pokemon you'll use before challenging. It always seems that way to me.

[dman_dustin]

Pretty sure that's not the case. I think you have to decide which Pokemon you'll use before challenging. It always seems that way to me.

That would explain why she used roar. Because if Ash chose before the battle then that would make sense then.

But unless the Poke balls and Pokemon (Yorterri) and moves are really sentient (as in it's roar attack). Even if Ash chose Tepig and Oshawott, why would roar work as it was intended to do so? Seems like it would only work if Ash's other Pokemon were in his backpack and not on him.

Then again I wondered why there was a scene showing Ash holding two Poke balls.

[kemal07]

So...how many seconds of screen time did team rocket have in this episode? 10 seconds or 30 seconds?

I know it's a shame James doesn't even have a Pokemon yet and we have not seen much of Jessie's Koromori at all.

[wind21]

A really good episode on its own, a bad episode in continuity.

Brock (I mean, Dento) did a ton of talking. This was horrific development for Dento b/c he's the EXACT same as Brock in these gym battles. Always serious looking throughout the match, while Iris was playing Dawn, smiling in anticipation. I don't know why it never struck me either until this episode, but Dento is way taller than Ash and Iris-there was one scene where Iris and Ash were shown at about eye level walking, and then Dento walked by, and he was so much taller-his face wasn't even shown; I always remember Dawn and Ash were about the same heights, while Brock was a good deal taller. This episode could just as easily had Brock in Dento's place at the gym, and you wouldn't have known the difference at all-and that's very, very, very, very bad.

The battle itself was pretty good. I liked at how Ash wasn't put off by the attitude change in Aloe's dog pokemon, showing how he was really taking the battle seriously. That's really good. Also the way Piplup's cousin fired water gun (I think that was water gun) was also nice; seemed like it curled a little, which I, using a little imagination, can take to mean Ash has done some training. Not bad. Overall, Ash's composure during the battle was nice to see, except for 1 scene which really annoyed me.

What I didn't like was 2 things. One was where Ash started jumping for joy at how Piplup's cousin managed to defend against the thunderbolt by using its shell. As we saw later on in the episode, if that thunderbolt had landed, it would have been a KO. I don't see why Ash would be excited over dodging a hit that he has to dodge. It's not like him, and it was only encouraging Piplup's cousin's attitude that it's so great-an attitude which I personally dislike, so take this criticism with a grain of salt. Aloe even made Ash's reaction look even worse in how she recognized all she needed to do was get rid of the shell, which she skillfully accomplished. Ash had no plan B (the way he was celebrating, it didn't look like he even had a Plan A; he was never that excited over the moves he worked so hard on in Hoenn or in Sinnoh when he used them in gym battles, and maybe that's b/c he expected those moves to work with all of the practice he put in).

The 2nd thing is my major nitpick with this episode. Why did Ash look so depressed after the loss? Like he had no idea what to do. Hasn't he lost gym battles before? He's always been driven to figure out what to do himself, often doing special training with the same pokemon. He certainly never showed that type of extreme doubt in himself in those episodes (Anabel, Brandon, Roark, Gardenia, Fantina; my favorite one is Brawly, where he was actually upset for losing). I very much dislike Ash's immediate reaction to his loss; he looked sort of like Dawn.

Finally, I really hope this is the end of Ash being overpowered in battles for awhile, b/c it's getting to be too much. Takuto, Shooti, and Aloe make four huge battles pretty close to each other where Ash has been totally overmatched-and seemingly, doesn't mind it too much.