The Symbol Life (413)

[majinveggito]

Charizard using two new moves in a match kind of surprised me (Overheat and DragonBreath). I'm still kind of surprised that Charizard managed to defeat a legendary, although that's one awesome way to earn you first...badge?? O_O

[Kakashi-Sharingan Warrior]

just seen the pics

looks very good

and that looked like a strong dragonbreath!

but Ash got gold?

maybe noland only gave it to him cos he beat a 'legend'

[CyberCubed]

He'll probably always get the Gold symbols, no reason to even show the Silver symbols in the anime. They're pointless, as it's obvious that Ash will just be fighting the Brains, and not the trainers leading up to the Brains.

[MasterJedi]

Does anybody know what Brock tells May and Max while Ash is riding Charizard in the beginning of the episode?

[Gravy]

...ugggh. I didn't like this one at all. Seeing Articuno battle and under the command of a trainer just made the bird seem a whole lot less special than its supposed to be. I know its already been discussed to death, but after actually watching the episode, the feeling really hits you like a ton of bricks. Gah, I'm really sorry for whining about it so much, but I just despised the entire concept >_<;
And to add to that, I'm furious that they made Charizard's Overheat seem a hell of a lot more special than Torkoal's. It makes me sick the way Torkoal is constantly put down in this show.

Though there were a few parts that I enjoyed.
Articuno lashing out with a ferocious barrage of Ice Beams, hitting Charizard in the wing and forcing it to hit the floor and roll uncontrolably. And its clever combination of both Water Pulse and Ice Beam was pretty neat~
Having Ash take Charizard for an early morning warm-up routine provided a nice intro scene to the episode. Its good to see him actually testing out his pokémon's strength and abilities before plunging into battle. And I have to say, watching him flying around on Charizard's back really made me miss Pigeot~

....thats all I really liked about it. There was too much unnesessary explanations of the attacks, the Team Rocket scenes were just crap and snatched up too much battle time and overall, I didn't really enjoy the battle itself. I found it to be lackluster at best, and I'm not letting my bias get in the way of that either. Probably the first aerial battle that failed to impress me :/

[Waveblaster]

The episode was bad...Dragonbreath wasn't that good and Overheat missed for crying out loud. I've seen much better animation for pokemon and this is possibly the worst in awhile. And in the end then have the battle finish with a Siesmic Toss which was
t-e-r-r-i-b-l-e. They really need more new strategies with Charizard. I'm glad it left at the end of the episode dispite the fact we knew it would happen. Did I mention the animation was bad?

[poke_girl]

Old pokemon is good. But old overused pokemon like Charizard aren't.

I thought the symbols were supposed to be engraved, not given. So this is basically just like gym battles, gym badges and gym leaders. I have a feeling that the upcoming frontier facilities will be similar to this as well. So no pyramid climbing for the pyramid, no room choosing in the pike, and no commandless battles in the palace.

I bet (or hope..) we'll see most of his old pokemon again, it would be cool if ones like Haunter came back to

[V Faction]

I bet (or hope..) we'll see most of his old pokemon again, it would be cool if ones like Haunter came back to

Now, I'm going to assume, for your sake and mine as well, that you're aware of Ash's nonofficial possession of Haunter. That is to say, it was never his. And that, already out there as it is, is a good indicator of Haunter's continued absence.

I.E.: He ain't commin' back!

Good-bye, Charizard! Farewell till yet another oddly configured battle that pit the stakes depressingly high!

[TeddiUrsa]

...ugggh. I didn't like this one at all. Seeing Articuno battle and under the command of a trainer just made the bird seem a whole lot less special than its supposed to be. I know its already been discussed to death, but after actually watching the episode, the feeling really hits you like a ton of bricks. Gah, I'm really sorry for whining about it so much, but I just despised the entire concept >_<;
And to add to that, I'm furious that they made Charizard's Overheat seem a hell of a lot more special than Torkoal's. It makes me sick the way Torkoal is constantly put down in this show.

Though there were a few parts that I enjoyed.
Articuno lashing out with a ferocious barrage of Ice Beams, hitting Charizard in the wing and forcing it to hit the floor and roll uncontrolably. And its clever combination of both Water Pulse and Ice Beam was pretty neat~
Having Ash take Charizard for an early morning warm-up routine provided a nice intro scene to the episode. Its good to see him actually testing out his pokémon's strength and abilities before plunging into battle. And I have to say, watching him flying around on Charizard's back really made me miss Pigeot~

....thats all I really liked about it. There was too much unnesessary explanations of the attacks, the Team Rocket scenes were just crap and snatched up too much battle time and overall, I didn't really enjoy the battle itself. I found it to be lackluster at best, and I'm not letting my bias get in the way of that either. Probably the first aerial battle that failed to impress me :/

You are SO right this episode didn´t impress me ery much at all.
I was hoping for funny random battles, this was thrown away..I was ******, but I could live with it. but a whole battle based on only two pokemon is rahter boring ( and I don´t the red lizard very much...and articuno wasn´t that thrilling).
I´m hoping that the next battle frontier battle will be much better...I was never disappointed because of a hoenn gym battle ( even the wattson episode was kinda okay), but this one felt so...heartless.

[Batdude]

I will NEVER stop loving Charizard. So now it has Dragonbreath AND Overheat? It's not like they upgraded it so it totally outclasses Torkoal in every way at all... So it learned Overheat that morning with Ash or something? That is very convenient. But what I really want to know is did TR say anything about Charizard's return? Any recognition like?

[Chris]

Hey everyone, guess what? Lizardon can learn Dragonbreath in GSC! So what does that mean? It means STFU about it not being able to learn it. ¬¬ It's ridiculous that a Pokémon can't learn a move it was perfectly capable of learning in a previous generation. And as we all know, games =/= anime. It's at least more understandable than Vibrava pulling Supersonic out of its rear.

[poke_girl]

Now, I'm going to assume, for your sake and mine as well, that you're aware of Ash's nonofficial possession of Haunter. That is to say, it was never his. And that, already out there as it is, is a good indicator of Haunter's continued absence.

I.E.: He ain't commin' back!

Good-bye, Charizard! Farewell till yet another oddly configured battle that pit the stakes depressingly high!

I ment ones like him.. maybe we'll see Primape!

edit: or, maybe, more likly, Pidgot!

[JazzJazz]

They really need more new strategies with Charizard. I'm glad it left at the end of the episode dispite the fact we knew it would happen.

I can think of one positive if charizard had stayed with Ash... at least people wouldn't start preaching abolut Ash needing a fire-type and trying to guess which one he might get.

[majinveggito]

Well...since there's an empty slot, Ash will probably get another fire-type. At least that's what it's shaping up to be...

[CyberCubed]

Well...since there's an empty slot, Ash will probably get another fire-type. At least that's what it's shaping up to be...

He probably won't. Unless the writers are truly retarded that they absolutely HAVE to shove Ash with the same 5 boring types every single region. (Grass, Fire, Water, flying, electric).

He doesn't need a new fire type either, he has 3 perfectly good fire Pokemon as it is.

[Pokemon Fan]

...ugggh. I didn't like this one at all. Seeing Articuno battle and under the command of a trainer just made the bird seem a whole lot less special than its supposed to be. I know its already been discussed to death, but after actually watching the episode, the feeling really hits you like a ton of bricks. Gah, I'm really sorry for whining about it so much, but I just despised the entire concept >_<;

Well on a positive note the match looked essentially to be a draw. Articuno ended up falling down and staying down (though no swirly eye=yay! as I hate those in serious battles) but still throughout it looked like they were essentially equal in strength, or in fact Charizard was somewhat weaker (it seemed it was on the run from attacks a lot more than Articuno was).

Though to stop any words on how Ash didn't deserve the symbol, let's just say he deserves it simply for performing well against a sub legendary (that Articuno looked about a quarter smaller than the Orange Islands or even Johto one) and leave it at that? ^_^

<><><>

Anyway, based on the screenshots.

Pros:

1. Ash flying around on Charizard at the start. It was nice to see them spending time together and looking at the size and power of the attacks it was launching as Ash practiced with it really showcased just how strong Charizard has become. And it just looked prettier than the rest of the episode to me.
2. Overheat looked very nice. The little detail with it melting the ice off Charizard's wing was appreciated.
3. Articuno used some good combos and strategies.
4. TR's "crayon drawing" fantasy was funny looking.
5. The new version of Seismic Toss was nice simply because it was different.

Cons:

1. Poor animation and art nearly throughout. Except for the scenery in the beginning of the episode and the Overheat scene everything looked below average. It may be simple to say it had bad animation, but it really effects my enjoyment of a big battle.
2. Charizard looked far too fat and clumsy in most of the scenes, as well as its wings too small in many/all scenes. A common symptom for it when it appears in badly animated episodes.
3. Not using the ample, obvious opportunities to showcase Blaze and/or Blast Burn.
4. A nearly complete lack of originality in Charizard's battle style. Not even a clever use of Fire Spin. Who else loved it in Johto when Charizard actually wrapped up a freaking HYPER BEAM!? ^-^
5. It doesn't look like Ash and Charizard hug even once in the episode... okay maybe it's trivial but I love those scenes. *is sad*

[V Faction]

I wonder if we'll see the likes of Furry Cutter and Rollout and Fire Punch and and all of those more often, what with the BF having them avalible. Heck, with Dragonbreath, I wonder if we'll see some OLDER attacks, like Seismic Toss and Counter and Bide. I'm starting to agree with that idea that attacks can be spread across the regions a little (and being in Kanto doesn't hurt either =P).

Now if they wouldn't just spring them on us last minute in favor of more elusive attacks~

[majinveggito]

He probably won't. Unless the writers are truly retarded that they absolutely HAVE to shove Ash with the same 5 boring types every single region. (Grass, Fire, Water, flying, electric).

He doesn't need a new fire type either, he has 3 perfectly good fire Pokemon as it is.

Yeah...but it would fit the pattern...I haven't been surprised much...by anything the writers done...well, there may be one or two exceptions ^_^;;

[Mew2]

I'm under the impression that for the rest of the Battle Frontier arc, the sixth pokemon slot will be rotated each time. That means that there's a good chance that we may see pokemon like Squirtle or Snorlax later on depending on the scenerio.

[Almighty Zard]

I'm under the impression that for the rest of the Battle Frontier arc, the sixth pokemon slot will be rotated each time. That means that there's a good chance that we may see pokemon like Squirtle or Snorlax later on depending on the scenerio.

Squirtle depends on if there is a facility near where he is right now,might get an episode or two for itself though, and i wouldn't mind seeing Heracross at the Arena, now that should be good.

[JazzJazz]

Squirtle depends on if there is a facility near where he is right now

What kind of facility? You mean a pokemon transporter? Does squirtle even have a pokeball anymore?

[V Faction]

Of course he does. It's in the possession of Jenny now.

[CyberCubed]

What kind of facility? You mean a pokemon transporter? Does squirtle even have a pokeball anymore?

I think he meant Battle Facility.

In any case, if Squirtle does come back Ash could simply call up Jenny to meet him.

Just like Jenny apparently flew all the way from Kanto to Johto just to allow Ash to use Squirtle in the Johto League.

[Team Rocket Admin]

What kind of facility? You mean a pokemon transporter? Does squirtle even have a pokeball anymore?

I'm sure Ash still has it, as he still had Charizard's, and Squirtle came out of a Pokeball when he used it in the Johto league.

[£añkaÑ]

Great Episode, all thats bad is, that he already got the gold, he shoul've got Silver instead, but ohwell.

The anime style may be different...from the game ..lol

it was a nice ep...i wonder if this is how it is going to be in future ep..a.gianst some legendaryies...