A Blustery Santalune Gym Battle! (808)

[Wednesdayz]

Oh wow, this had to be a first: one of Ash's first stage bird Pokemon actually won a battle. Ash's Fletchling was pure amazing here, meanwhile Pikachu goofed and paid the price lol.

 

[Alloutℯ]

I didn't mind Ash losing here, no one was knocked out in one shot and Pikachu was genuinely thrown off guard. It would be nice if they work on replacing Electro Ball: would be nice if Pikachu had a move that hit all around without doing something like counter-shield.

 

[Leonhart]

I'm still amazed that the Hakudan Gym match made Ametama seem like Viola's ace in contrast to Vivillon, which hardly did anything as spectacular as Ametama here. I'm somewhat surprised that Ametama didn't evolve into Amemoth.

 

[FullmetalJackie]

I enjoyed this episode because I often whine about smaller Pokemon coming off as too strong, but Viola made her strength seem very believable due to the strategy that accompanied it. It was also nice to see Ash do some training on screen too. It was a rarity in BW to see Ash do significant training with his Pokemon but here he is doing it right after a battle.

 

[Leonhart]

Looking back, I liked Serena's scenes here even though she felt like such a minor character due to the fact that she wasn't in the cast yet, and because she arrived at Hakudan City so late in the episode.

 

[Mr.Munchlax]

My only thing is, why do people automatically assume that "Ugh, Surskit is one of the weakest Pokemon! How could Pikachu lose to that? *facepalm*". I mean, Viola is clearly older than Ash, therefore she's been Pokemon battling for much much longer than Ash has.

As a Gym Leader she's had battles with trainers of all different skill types, and has seen any number of different strategies. Why is it so hard to believe that her Surskit, even being a first stage evolution Pokemon, can have that much experience in battle. I mean, everyone expects Pikachu to be strong even though he's not evolved, so why can't Surskit be strong as well, considering Surskit's probably been battling a lot longer than Pikachu.

Probably because most viewers assume that the anime is just like the games and think that unevolved Pokémon are automatically weak. Plus, there’s the fact that Viola’s a pushover in the games too (just like all of Kalos’s gym leaders), so everyone goes into this thinking her Surskit’s just as weak in the anime as it is in the games

 

[mehmeh1]

Probably because most viewers assume that the anime is just like the games and think that unevolved Pokémon are automatically weak. Plus, there’s the fact that Viola’s a pushover in the games too (just like all of Kalos’s gym leaders), so everyone goes into this thinking her Surskit’s just as weak in the anime as it is in the games

I wonder how they'd react to reading Pokespe and seeing Guile Hideout's Surskit or Pryce's Swinub in action

 

[KyogreThunder]

Good episode. I liked seeing Serena's interaction with Fennekin at the beginning of the episode. Viola's Surskit freezing the battlefield was clever, although I wsa hoping to see Pikachu scratch the ice with Iron Tail. It was cool to see Surskit use Signal Beam and Pikachu and Fletchling train.
8/10

 

[RafaSceptile]

Reviewing the Pokémon anime in 10 words or less:
"Losing against Surskit is bad...but the episode is good"

Episode: 7/10